The House Committee on Revenue and Fiscal Affairs on Oct. 12 reported favorably on a package of bills affecting property-tax appeals, Department of Revenue procedures, adjudicated property sales and a statutory and constitutional proposal to allow parishes to opt out of the business-inventory ad valorem tax.

The committee, chaired by Representative Tammy Pryor, moved all items by voice without roll-call tallies after presenters and supporting organizations described each measure and legislators asked clarifying questions. Representative Kevin Farnam moved favorable on House Bill 183, Representative Farnam moved favorable on House Bill 416, Representative Willard moved favorable on House Bill 404, Representative Wilder moved favorable on House Bill 591, Representative Breaux’s House Bill 557 was reported with technical amendments, and Representative Desotel’s House Bills 366 (constitutional amendment) and 365 (statutory companion) were both reported favorably.

The package’s most detailed discussion concerned two related topics: changes to the parish-level Board of Review process in House Bill 183 and the pair of measures (House Bills 366 and 365) that would let parishes opt out of or phase down the business-inventory ad valorem tax in exchange for a one-time payout mechanism.

Bridal Eddington, representing the Louisiana Assessors Association, said House Bill 183 was drafted after Representative Boriak’s 2023 request to “revise, clarify, and streamline the rules around the board of review process” for property-tax appeals. Eddington described the bill’s goal as making deadlines sequential and clearer for assessors, boards of review and the tax commission, and said the bill would require taxpayers to submit evidence with their protest to the Board of Review so boards are not presented with large volumes of documents on the day of the hearing. He said the bill would also give boards as much as three weeks to review submissions and add a qualified immunity provision protecting board members for good-faith actions while sitting as a Board of Review.

On House Bill 416, Representative Farnam and Catherine Logan of the Louisiana Department of Revenue (LDR) said the measure would bar class-action lawsuits against the Department of Revenue and the Office of Debt Recovery for tax claims. Logan said LDR had seen four class-action filings in the last three years and that none had been certified; she said taxpayers who wait on unproven class-action certification can miss individual filing deadlines. Logan also told the committee that one existing case tied to the Office of Debt Recovery remains uncertified and has been pending for five years.

Representative Willard presented House Bill 404 as a package of administrative updates for LDR. He said the bill removes a paper-mail notice requirement for some out-of-state alcohol shipments, aligns interest charged on unpaid taxes with judicial interest, simplifies the tax-exemption budget reporting, removes the department’s prior debit-card refund option, clarifies sourcing for sales where title transfers to Louisiana before possession, and allows the Office of Debt Recovery to levy sports-wagering winnings to satisfy debts. Catherine Logan appeared for information and indicated LDR worked with the sponsor on the bill.

Several bills addressed adjudicated or tax-delinquent property. Representative Wilder’s House Bill 591 would provide an alternative to minimum bids when selling adjudicated property and require that costs associated with terminating a lien certificate apply to adjudicated property. Representative Breaux’s House Bill 557 would allow local governments more flexibility to convert longstanding adjudicated property into the new tax-lien-certificate process established last year; a technical amendment adopted in committee corrected references from “tax sale certificate” to “tax lien certificate.” Supporters said the change helps parishes and municipalities move idle property back into commerce without re-starting statutory waiting periods.

The committee’s lengthiest policy debate surrounded Representative Desotel’s constitutional amendment (House Bill 366) and its statutory companion (House Bill 365). Desotel and administration officials said the measures would give parishes local option to exempt business inventory from ad valorem taxation or to reduce the percentage of fair-market value applied to inventory. Under the plan, a parish that opts out would receive a one-time payment equal to three times its 2025 collections on that tax, subject to a minimum and maximum (a stated minimum of $1,000,000 and a stated maximum of $15,000,000 was described during discussion). Lawmakers and administration representatives described several implementation details still to be finalized, including whether payouts would come from the Revenue Stabilization Fund or other budget sources; Catherine Logan (LDR) said revenue-stabilization mechanisms used previously were being considered.

Supporters said the local-option approach responds to voter concerns after last session’s bundled constitutional rewrite and gives parishes flexibility—including the option to phase down the tax over multiple years rather than end it immediately. Several legislators representing parishes with large inventory-tax revenue (for example, for petrochemical or manufacturing facilities) cautioned that some local governments depend heavily on the revenue and would need time or supplemental funding to adjust. Committee discussion documented that the statutory companion requires approval by three local entities within a parish (the school board, the sheriff and the parish government) to implement the change; it is not a direct popular referendum under the statutory language discussed.

Public comment included a taxpayer, Robert Theriault of Lafourche Parish, who described difficulty obtaining public records on comparable properties and appraisal data while appealing his home valuation; he said he had appealed valuations three years in a row and that the Louisiana Tax Commission and his assessor’s office had given differing responses on access to square footage and comparable-sale information.

The committee recorded no roll-call vote counts in the transcript; each motion was moved and then advanced by the committee with the sponsor’s motion and a voice acknowledgment of “no objection” where recorded. The committee reported the bills favorably (HB 183, HB 416, HB 404, HB 591, HB 557 with amendments, HB 366, HB 365) and indicated staff would incorporate the technical corrections discussed in committee.

Ending: The committee adjourned after moving the remaining measures and taking the public comment; sponsors asked to be contacted by parish leaders seeking further explanation of implementation details.