§1837. Duties and responsibilities

            A. In addition to any duties, powers, or responsibilities otherwise conferred upon the tax commission, it shall administer and enforce all laws related to the state supervision of local property tax assessments and the assessment of public service properties.

            B.(1) The tax commission shall measure the level of appraisals or assessments and the degree of uniformity of assessments for each major class and type of property in each parish throughout the state. The tax commission shall annually notify in writing the assessor and each tax recipient body in each parish of the results of their measurements. Following this notification, a public hearing shall be held to hear any complaints. Thereafter, the tax commission shall publish annually the results of its measurement and shall make such data available at its principal office. This data shall constitute prima facie evidence of the uniformity or lack of uniformity with constitutional or statutory requirements for each parish in the state. Where the appraisal or assessment level of a parish or district deviate by more than ten percent from the percentage of fair market or use valuation as required by Article VII, Section 18 of the constitution of Louisiana and the laws of this state affecting property taxation, the tax commission shall order the assessor, within a period of one year, to reappraise all property within the parish or district or within one or more property classifications. The tax commission shall notify the assessor and each tax recipient body within that parish or district in writing of the issuance of such an order. The tax commission shall certify the assessment lists for the year in which the order is issued. The following year the tax commission shall again measure the level of appraisals or assessments for each major class and type of property in the parish. When the tax commission finds after proper notification and hearing that the appraisal or assessment levels of a parish or district deviate by more than ten percent from the percentage of fair market or use value required by the constitution and laws of the state, the tax commission shall not certify the rolls.

            (2) In a year in which the tax commission orders reappraisal of all property within a parish or district or within one or more property classifications, the commission shall:

            (a) Inform the assessor in detail of the exact nature of the discrepancies and deviations discovered by the tax commission in its measurement of assessment levels.

            (b) Establish a schedule for accomplishment of the ordered reappraisal.

            (c) Monitor the reappraisal on a weekly basis to ensure that the established schedule is being met and that there are not substantial deviations and discrepancies in the reappraisals.

            (d) Provide technical assistance to ensure accurate and timely reappraisal.

            C. The tax commission shall make the necessary inspections, investigations, and studies for the adequate administration of its responsibilities pursuant to this Section.

            (1) These may be made in cooperation with other state agencies, and, in connection therewith, the tax commission may utilize reports and data of any state agency.

            (2) The tax commission may require individuals, companies, partnerships, and corporations to make reports to the tax commission giving trial balances, a full and complete description of all taxable property owned, its cost, its age, the value at which it is carried on the books, and such other information as the tax commission may require in the form and at the time to be prescribed by the tax commission. Copies of such reports may be furnished parish assessors whenever the tax commission deems its useful and necessary. All such reports shall be considered confidential and shall be used by the tax commission and the assessors only for the purpose of securing a correct assessment and shall not be subject to inspection by the public.

            (3) The tax commission may also require any person holding office under the constitution or laws of this state to furnish any information in his or her possession or under his or her control relating to the existence, location, or value of any property which would assist or instruct the tax commission or the assessor in locating such property and arriving at its fair market or use value.

            (4) The Louisiana Tax Commission may, in the performance of any duty or exercise of any power provided in this Section or in Part III of Chapter 2 of Subtitle III of this Title, send for persons; books and papers; examine records; summon and compel the attendance of witnesses and place them under oath and examine them; issue subpoenas and subpoenas duces tecum, if necessary either for a hearing before the Louisiana Tax Commission or in connection with discovery conducted by any party to an action pending before the Louisiana Tax Commission; compel the production of records, books and papers, and other information which the Louisiana Tax Commission may deem necessary; and require the sheriffs of the various parishes to serve such subpoenas and other processes of the Louisiana Tax Commission and execute its order, receiving therefor the same compensation as may be provided by law for similar services under processes issued by the district court, the costs and expenses of such proceedings to be paid by the Louisiana Tax Commission. In any case where it shall be answered that books, papers, documents, or other information are not within the state, and they are not brought within the state to answer the demand of the Louisiana Tax Commission, then the Louisiana Tax Commission shall proceed by way of injunction, or other appropriate legal proceedings, to compel the offending delinquent to cease doing business in the state until the books, papers, documents, or what the Louisiana Tax Commission shall deem an equivalent, shall be produced, and the granting of such injunction or other relief shall be the penalty for refusing to comply with the demand. Such proceedings shall be brought at the domicile of the Louisiana Tax Commission. Any person who disobeys any order of the Louisiana Tax Commission or fails or refuses to comply with any request of the Louisiana Tax Commission issued or made under the authority of any Section of this Part or who disobeys any subpoena duces tecum, or refuses to testify when requested to do so by the Louisiana Tax Commission, either orally or by the Louisiana Tax Commission, shall for each offense be fined a sum of not less than fifty dollars, nor more than one hundred dollars, or imprisoned for not more than thirty days, or both.

            (5) The tax commission shall authorize and direct the collector to correct the assessment on the roll on file in his office and the recorder of mortgages of the appropriate parish or parishes to change the inscription of tax mortgages pursuant to R.S. 39:351 and R.S. 47:1991.

            D. In order to promote compliance with the requirements of the constitution and laws of the state, the tax commission shall issue and, from time to time, may amend or revise rules and regulations containing minimum standards of assessment and appraisal performance. Such standards shall include, but shall not be limited to the following:

            (1) The tax commission shall devise, prescribe, and require the use of all forms deemed necessary for the effective administration of the property tax laws.

            (2) The tax commission shall prepare, issue, and periodically revise guides for the use of local assessors in the form of handbooks of rules and regulations, appraisal manuals, special manuals and studies, cost and price schedules, news and reference bulletins, and digests of property tax laws suitably annotated.

            (3) The tax commission shall develop, maintain, and enforce a uniform statewide system for the preparation of assessment lists, tax rolls, and all other necessary forms.

            E. Whenever an assessor requests the tax commission to provide engineering, professional, or technical services for the appraisal or reappraisal of properties, the tax commission may, within its available resources, and in accordance with its determination of the need therefor, provide such services.

            F. The tax commission may conduct or sponsor in-service, pre-entry, and intern training programs in conjunction with the Louisiana Assessors' Association on the technical, legal, and administrative aspects of the assessment process. For this purpose it may cooperate with educational institutions, local, regional, state, or national assessors' organizations, and with other organizations interested in improving assessment practices.

            G.(1) Whenever the tax commission adopts, amends, or revises, rules and regulations, guidelines, procedures, and forms, it shall do so only after public hearings held pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act.

            (2) Each hearing held by the tax commission at which proposed changes to rules and regulations are discussed, whether or not such hearing is held pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act, shall be held at the state capitol. Audio and video of the entirety of each such hearing shall be broadcast live via the Internet, and the tax commission shall have all such hearings recorded and shall maintain them for a minimum of three years. The tax commission shall establish a website to provide the public with information concerning such hearings, and all hearings recorded pursuant to this Paragraph shall be available to the public for viewing through a link clearly identified on the website.

            (3)(a) Tax commission rulemaking shall be subject to oversight by the Senate Committee on Revenue and Fiscal Affairs and the House Committee on Ways and Means. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary and subject to the provisions of this Paragraph, the tax commission may use emergency rulemaking procedures when necessary for effective administration of ad valorem taxes.

            (b) The tax commission shall post the current draft of any proposed emergency rule on the commission's website at least sixty days before the publication of the final version of the emergency rule in the Louisiana Register and shall provide for the submission of comments. All comments received within thirty days of the posting of the draft emergency rule shall be reviewed and considered by the commission. The commission may revise the draft before the final version of the emergency rule is submitted to the Office of the State Register. The provisions of this Subparagraph shall not apply to statewide advisories issued by the commission.

            Added by Acts 1977, No. 385, §1, eff. July 10, 1977. Amended by Acts 1978, No. 378, §1, eff. July 12, 1978; Acts 1984, No. 256, §1; H.C.R. No. 88, 1993 R.S., eff. May 30, 1993; H.C.R. No. 1, 1994 R.S., eff. May 11, 1994; Acts 2000, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 74, §1, eff. April 17, 2000; Acts 2011, No. 71, §1; Acts 2021, No. 343, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2022; Acts 2022, No. 287, §1.