Questions arise about the appraised value of N.O. properties
New Orleans CityBusiness, Dec 2, 2009 by Richard A Webster
The City Council budget hearings have at times resembled a soup line with needy department heads, hats in hand, pleading for alms.
The district attorney and Criminal District Court judges all took turns before the council, making desperate appeals for additional funds to save vital services such as the witness protection program and the mental health court threatened by millions in proposed cuts.
“The criminal element is not going to downsize,” Judge Julian Parker told the council. “They’re not going to slow down.”
In order to meet these and other needs, the council members are considering an increase in property taxes that are already 27 mills higher than Metairie’s — 130 versus 102.7.
And to compensate for the $68 million budget shortfall, they are evaluating a proposal to cut the wages of City Hall employees, some who make as little as $20,000, by at least 5 percent.
These are tough times all around and sacrifices have to be made, goes the rallying cry.
But such measures are not necessary, said Nancy Marshall, the 6th Municipal District assessor.
The city is already sitting on a pot of gold, enough funds to cover these requests, eliminate the need to cut city salaries and prevent an increase in property taxes at a time when many home and business owners are struggling to survive, she said.
All across New Orleans, there are hundreds of properties appraised for far less than their true value, representing millions in lost taxes. But there is no greater offender than the French Quarter, the most valuable stretch of land in the city, long hailed as the economic engine of New Orleans, Marshall said.
Vexing values
The most egregious example is the W Hotel on Chartres Street.
Sold for $21.3 million in 2006 it is currently appraised at $3.76 million. At the current millage rate of 130, it represents an estimated loss of $342,562 in taxes per year.
There are dozens of similar examples throughout the Vieux Carre that not only amount to a fortune in lost revenue but are the reason why property taxes in Orleans Parish are sky-high and the owner of an Uptown shotgun house might pay more in taxes than the owner of a three-story building on Royal Street, Marshall said.
One of the more shocking discoveries is that on the 200 block of Royal Street, except for the Hotel Monteleone and Mr
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