Public inspection of this year’s tax rolls will end Friday, and Webster Parish Tax Assessor Morris Guin said now is the time for citizens to check their assessments.
Once public inspection closes, the deadline to appeal any assessments will be Tuesday, Sept. 26, he said.
“We’ll look over all of them, and then on Tuesday, Oct. 3, we’ll have the board of review with the Webster Parish Police Jury,” he said. “If we have any protests – which we will probably have one or two – then there is a 10-day waiting period for protests to the tax commission.”
That 10-day waiting period is from Oct. 9 through Oct. 20.
Usually, the police jury serves as the board of review each year around September, however, with the Oct. 14 special election for the Road District B tax, that’s pushed everything back, he said.
The Road District B tax, which funds road repairs and projects in the north end of Webster Parish, failed in the December 2016 election, and the police jury called for a special election in hopes of getting it passed. It is not a new tax but rather a tax renewal.
With the oil and gas industry stagnant in Webster Parish, millage rates will likely increase to allow governmental entities that have bond issues to keep up their payments, Guin said. He does not expect the oil and gas industry to pick up enough this year to keep millage rates lower.