When did property-tax interest and penalties begin if Louisiana's 2000 tax rolls were filed late?

Plain-English summary

Louisiana's sheriffs association asked when to begin charging interest and penalties on 2000 property taxes in parishes whose reassessment delayed the tax rolls. In 2000, the attorney general's office said taxpayers should receive forty-five days from the actual filing of a late roll before interest or penalties began. Where the roll was timely filed by November 15, it said the ordinary December 31 point applied.

The office acknowledged that it found no express statute authorizing a recalculation. It reasoned that charging from December 31 when the roll was filed late would be inequitable and inconsistent with the assessment-related constitutional provisions. This was an opinion about the specific 2000 reassessment delay, not a current filing deadline.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2000. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Tax collectors and assessors at the time

For a 2000 tax roll filed after the statutory November 15 date, the office said interest and penalties should wait until forty-five days after actual filing.

Taxpayers at the time

The opinion rejected charging late-payment consequences from December 31 when a delayed roll had not provided the usual payment period.

Common questions

Q: Did December 31 still control if a 2000 tax roll was filed late?
A: The opinion said no. It used forty-five days after the actual late filing.

Q: What if the tax roll was filed by November 15?
A: The office said interest and penalties could be calculated from December 31.

Q: Did the opinion cite an express statute extending the deadline?
A: No. It said it found no statutory authorization for recalculation and based its conclusion on its reading of the constitutional and statutory scheme.

Background and statutory framework

R.S. 47:2101(A), as described in the opinion, set a December 31 payment date. R.S. 47:1993(D) required assessors outside Orleans Parish to file tax rolls by November 15. The office read those provisions with Article VII, Sections 18(F) and 23 on reassessment and millages in the unusual 2000 filing circumstances.

Citations and references

• Article VII, Sections 18(F) and 23 (reassessment and millages)
• R.S. 47:2101(A) (tax payment date)
• R.S. 47:1993(D) (tax-roll filing date)
• Attorney General Opinion Nos. 79-1458, 79-704, and 78-1624 (earlier analysis)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/00-0471

Original opinion text

December 4, 2000
OPINION NUMBER 00-471

4 Assessors
107 Sheriffs
115 Taxation-Collection and enforcement against person and property 129 Taxation and levy and assessment (ad valorem taxes) 148 Taxation-property taxes –liability of persons and property
Mr. A. R. Buddy Hodgkins, Jr. Article VII, Sections 18(F) and 23 Assistant Executive Director R.S. 47:2101 and 1993 Louisiana Sheriff’s Association Due to the delinquent filing of tax rolls in the reassessment year of 2000,
1213 Nicholson Drive
interest and penalties for the late payment of taxes should be calculated from
45 days of the filing of the tax rolls. If the tax rolls are filed on or before
Baton Rouge, LA 70802
November 15, 2000, then interest and penalties can be calculated from
December 31, 2000.
Dear Mr. Hodgkins:

You have requested an opinion of the Attorney General regarding interest and penalties for the late payment of ad valorem taxes for the tax year 2000. You state that, due to the reassessment and adjustment of ad valorem tax millages required by Article VII, Sections 18(F) and 23, there have been substantial delays in the filing of tax rolls in some of the parishes. In some cases, tax rolls will not be filed until December 15, 2000.

You specifically ask whether interest and penalties for the late payment of taxes must be calculated from December 31, 2000, or can they accrue from the expiration of 45 days from the date of the filing of the delinquent rolls.

As you are aware, R.S. 47:2101(A) requires that taxes be paid on or before the thirty- first day of December, after which they become delinquent and subject to the imposition of interest and penalties. However, R.S. 47:1993(D) provides, in pertinent part, the following:

D. Each tax assessor, parish of Orleans excepted, shall complete and file the tax roll of his parish on or before the 15th day of November in each calendar year.

This November 15th filing requirement allows approximately 45 days for the payment of taxes by the taxpayer, before which the taxes become delinquent. As noted above, despite this statutory filing date requirement, reassessment has caused delays in the filing of some tax rolls of up to 30 days.

While we have been unable to find any statutory authorization for the recalculation of the payment of interest and penalties, we believe that a strict interpretation of these statutory provisions would be inconsistent with the spirit of the tax assessment-related

Page 2

Opinion Number 00-471
Mr. A. R. Buddy Hodgkins
Assistant Executive Director
Page: -2-

constitutional provisions. The concept of reassessment and valuation to ensure the uniformity of property assessments is for the benefit of taxpayers and tax recipients. To condemn the taxpayer to pay penalties and interest commencing December 31, in the case of delinquently filed tax rolls would be inequitable.

Accordingly, it is the opinion of this office that no interest or penalties should be assessed to taxpayers on December 31, 2000, unless the respective tax rolls were timely filed on November 15, 2000. In the case of late filing, interest or penalties should not be assessed until 45 days from the actual date of filing of the tax rolls. In accord are Attorney General Opinion Nos. 79-1458, 79-704 and 78-1624.

Trusting this adequately responds to your inquiry, I am

Very truly yours,

RICHARD P. IEYOUB
Attorney General

By:
ROBERT E. HARROUN, III
Assistant Attorney General

RPI/REH,3/sfj

Page 3

SYLLABUS
OPINION NUMBER 00-471

4 Assessors
107 Sheriffs
115 Taxation-Collection and enforcement against person and property 129 Taxation and levy and assessment (ad valorem taxes) 148 Taxation-property taxes –liability of persons and property

Article VII, Sections 18(F) and 23

R.S. 47:2101 and 1993

Due to the delinquent filing of tax rolls in the reassessment year of 2000, interest and penalties for the late payment of taxes should be calculated from 45 days of the filing of the tax rolls. If the tax rolls are filed on or before November 15, 2000, then interest and penalties can be calculated from December 31, 2000.

Mr. A. R. Buddy Hodgkins, Jr.
Assistant Executive Director
Louisiana Sheriff’s Association
1213 Nicholson Drive
Baton Rouge, LA 70802

DATE RECEIVED:

DATE RELEASED: December 4, 2000

Robert E. Harroun, III
Assistant Attorney General