Denise Edwards, Webster Parish Assessor and her staff of Deputies continue to provide exceptional service to the citizens of Webster Parish. In 2023, Denise again lowered the millage rate of the Assessment District saving the taxpayers another ½ million dollars and bringing the total since she became Assessor to 1.5 million dollars. “We plan to continue to be fiscally responsible and good stewards of taxpayer money and strive to keep the millage rate for our office as low as possible. Our office completed the digitization of old records for attachment to our assessment program for easy reference. We also finished a complete update of our online GIS parcel data throughout the whole parish and purchased a new map printer to begin updating our in-office hanging maps.
We completed an audit of Cell Towers and equipment which resulted in a huge increase in our taxbase of over $14 million in assessed value. These additional funds will help our law enforcement, schools, fire districts and other taxing bodies. We are continuing to audit Homestead Exemptions to identify parcels which do not qualify but also those that do and have not currently signed up for homestead.
We also plan to continue to our Annual Report to keep our citizens informed and up to date. 2024 is a mandated Reassessment Year which means all property in the parish must be revalued to its current Fair Market Value. Reassessment will be the main focus of 2024.
Real Estate prices have escalated greatly over the past four years which will increase the Fair Market Value substantially, but I can assure our taxpayers that we are working hard to keep their assessments fair and equitable in accordance with state law,” says Edwards.
The only exemption to this is properties that have a Special Assessment freeze on them. They will remain the same assessed value. If you are at least 65 years old, permanently and totally disabled or a disabled veteran AND have an adjusted gross income of less than $100,000, you qualify for a Special Assessment Freeze. If you are a disabled veteran, 50% or more, there are additional homestead exemptions that you may qualify for. We want to make sure our taxpayers are aware of any assistance that might be available. Please come by or call our office and we will be happy to help you with this.
“For the last four years under my administration, we have been proud and grateful to provide outstanding resources and services to the citizens of Webster Parish. I assure you that for the next four years we are dedicated to continue on this same path of excellence. Our door is always open! We look forward to serving your assessing needs,” says Edwards.