Allan Katz and Danae Columbus: Why complain about property taxes? New Orleans is blessed in 2013

Posted by UptownMessenger.com at 11:12 am business, city government, opinion, politics

Jan 052013

Allan Katz and Danae Columbus

Whereever we go this week, we hear New Orleanians complain about their own “fiscal cliff,” increased property tax bills. What’s wrong with Erroll Williams, they say? Doesn’t he know we like our properties to be under-assessed? No one likes their taxes to go up. And paying the new bills might cause some of us to eat out a few less times or cut down on our Mardi Gras expenses. But all in all, life in New Orleans is pretty darn good.

Who can really complain about all those thousands of tourists who are whisked through town this week after eating, drinking and sleeping in our hotels during the Sugar Bowl and dropping a few millions into the city’s tax coffers? Who can complain that preparations for this month’s Super Bowl are in high gear and that the game will bring in more than $300 Million in new spending as well as enough national and international journalists to cover every minute of the excitement for the folks back home in Des Moines, Singapore and Chicago.

We keep hearing from GNO Inc. that New Orleans has the best business climate in the nation, with new businesses like the Little Gem Saloon and Indulge, the Warehouse District restaurant and swim club, opening each month and young professionals continuing to move to our wonderful city. Right now it’s hard to find a condo to rent or buy in the CBD.

Mayor Landrieu and Councilmember Cynthia Hedge-Morrell dedicated a new playground yesterday, the seventh rebuilt with Allstate Insurance funds. NORA is on a roll selling excess land and houses that will help fill in many neighborhoods.

Aren’t we glad Hurricane Sandy didn’t visit us nine weeks ago? Danae was born in New Jersey and has relatives whose homes were severely damaged by the storm. How can we not feel sorry for all those East Coast residents who are waiting for the government to free up federal dollars?

And while we may complain that it is a little chilly in New Orleans this week, just think of the millions of people around the world living in refugee tents with barely enough food and clothing to survive.

Former New Orleanian and 1982 mayoral candidate Ron Faucheux now resides in Washington and polls for a non-profit think tank. Faucheux reports this week that 50 percent of Democrats and Republicans combined think that America’s best days are behind us.

We don’t believe that is the case for New Orleans. Our best days are still to come.

May this new year bring each of you prosperity and happiness.

Allan Katz spent 25 years as a political reporter and columnist at The Times-Picayune, and is now editor of the Kenner Star and host of several televsion programs, including the Louisiana Newsmaker on Cox Cable. Danae Columbus is executive producer of Louisiana Newsmaker, and has had a 30-year career in public relations, including stints at City Hall and the Dock Board. They both currently work for the Orleans Parish School Board. Among the recent candidates who have been represented by their public relations firm are City Councilwoman Stacy Head, Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne and council candidate Dana Kaplan.

http://anita-writ-in-water.blogspot.com/ Anitanola

Some prudent people who worked long years at relatively low pay and planned retirement adequate to pay taxes as we knew them have found their real estate taxes more than quadrupled when their relatively modest houses, finally mortgage-free, were arbitrarily reassessed after Katrina. It matters to us because social security was not quadrupled along with health care costs and real estate tax increases. It has nothing to do with being grateful for our blessings.
http://anita-writ-in-water.blogspot.com/ Anitanola

You imply that we should think the pinch is not really pinching. Health care, real estate taxes and insurance have all quadrupled while retirement income remains fixed for many seniors. It pinches.
- http://twitter.com/Owen_Courreges Owen Courrèges
  
  Anitanola,
  
  Oh, no, no… Seniors get “age freezes” on their assessments and often pay next to nothing in property taxes (essentially, they get to keep their historic underassessments). What hurts is having people who free-rode off of the property tax system their entire lives getting to freeze their assessments at bizarrely low levels simply because they’re old.
QuienesSomos

How about this – I have a bunch of rental properties. Taxes went up, insurance went up, rental rates are falling = big problems. Glad y’all are aristocratically happy.
- Terrence O’Brien
  
  Sell
- http://twitter.com/Owen_Courreges Owen Courrèges
  
  Rental rates aren’t falling all over the city. I only have one rental unit, but I’ve been able to increase rent incrementally to help cover my increased costs. That said, I do agree that the insurance situation has become insane and that the city needs to stop raising property taxes. With the massive deductibles and additional coinsurance for wind storm damage, I just don’t see how the current rates can possibly be justified. And it hurts more when the city keeps absorbing increased assessments.
jexni

You guys must have a PR contract with Erroll Williams. This opinion is irrational unless you are compensated for your efforts.
- B.C.
  
  I completely agree. Posting an opinion from two owners of a PR firm who represent local government leaders is poor journalism. Some would call that free advertisement.
kristi

Obviously you do not own your own home or small business building in this city…oh wait, you do. since you can afford the 15 grand you owe in less than a month, can i borrow the $18,000 i owe? I mean, why not, since you’re already planning to eat out less anyway?
Believe it’s doubtful your words here will garner any local appreciation. The culture of our city is a beautiful thing, but the streets are not paved of gold. You incorrectly blend local happenings with the justification of mafia-like property assessments. Perhaps you both need to get out of your swivel chairs and really listen to that feedback from real people in the community before you throw out your own distorted happy-pill notions.
nolagal

I will stop complaining about property taxes when properties are accurately assessed AND taxes are COLLECTED on ALL properties. The system as it stands now is random in assessments and ineffective at collecting unpaid taxes. Apparently, the powers that be have decided that it is easier to raise taxes on those who pay rather than go after deadbeats.

My assessment received in August 2012 doubled from the previous year, which already reflected the accurate assessment performed by Nancy Marshall (unlike other areas of the city that had not yet undergone reassessment). I then had to hire a private appraiser ($300) and wait in line 6 hours to get the correct assessment applied — that is, I had to spend my time and money do the job that the assessor was elected to do, and be paid through my tax dollars.

Comparing my assessment with comparable properties in my neighborhood, I checked the property half a block from mine, which had sold about six months before the reassessments. Obviously, the sale price should have been the assessment, right? Wrong! Somehow, the assessor decided that these willing buyers must have paid about $100,000 more than the property was “worth”, and reduced their assessment by $100,000 below the recent sale price. At best, this example looks random, at worst, it smells fishy.

Yes, our city is great and the future looks bright. But, wouldn’t it be greater and brighter if it weren’t plagued by incompetence and inequities?
- http://twitter.com/Owen_Courreges Owen Courrèges
  
  Nolagal,
  
  I completely agree. The situation is getting better as they work through the rolls, but it’s still bad. The problem is that that assessments from the past are completely useless, so the city is effectively starting over. Some people have overpaid for properties (particularly those who bought in dry areas after Katrina), but it’s a case-by-case analysis. People who complain often get relief, sometimes undeserved, because it’s just impossible to have a tight focus on individual properties in this environment. I advise everyone to keep a close eye on their assessments.
- Uptowner
  
  The assessor uses “mass appraisal” technique to apply values to parcels, both commercial and residential. In other words, they just take one “comparable” sale’s value and apply that to a large area. While this may work in some cities, it doesn’t work here. At all. If they were able to value properties on a block-by-block basis, it would be more accurate but they don’t (and won’t) take the time to do so. As such, property owners on streets like North Rampart pay taxes commensurate with much more valuable French Quarter properties, for example, simply because they are proximate in location. Things are mostly good in Nola but this is a broken system that is unfair to many. Unfortunately, we aren’t going to see any changes; we’ll just have to deal with the incompetence
  - nolagal
    
    In my meeting with the assessor’s staff, they claimed to have done a block-by-block assessment, but merely drove by and assumed that my ordinary “raised basement” house was actually a three-story house with nearly 4,000 square feet — totally wrong! Whereas the house down the street was inexplicably and substantially reduced in value from its 2012 sale price.
    
    While I understand Owen’s point, raised below, that some houses, particularly in dry areas, sold for over value after Katrina, the house to which I am referring does not fit that description. Our neighborhood had about 3 feet of water — not disastrous, but definitely a mess — and sale prices had corrected themselves by 2012. That house sold at market value, and is now assessed for about $100,000 less. By the way, the assessor’s webpage for that property no longer shows the 2012 sale. That line magically disappeared sometime in the fall, after the assessments were published on line. So, the record shows the name of the current owner, but not the sale which transferred the property to that owner. However, it does show two earlier transfers, that happen to be lower than the assessment. Isn’t that odd?
    - Uptowner
      
      If they tell you they’re doing a block-by-block assessment, they’re either lying or just so incompetent as to what actually qualifies as a true comparable sale that they can’t get values in the ballpark. I don’t trust them and I’ve done some research to find some really shady “special” assessment stuff on their site so who knows. Unfortunately, the only real recourse is to hire a reputable appraiser and fight them tooth and nail… It may set you back a couple hundred bucks but it will be money well spent when you know you’re paying taxes commensurate with your actual property value. Broken system, we just have to deal with it the best we can