Could two Louisiana Tax Commission members approve property assessment changes without a public meeting?

Plain-English summary

The Louisiana Tax Commission had historically issued property assessment change orders with two members' signatures, without approving them in a public meeting. Its administrator asked whether that procedure was proper. In Opinion 03-0038, the Attorney General said change orders had to be approved or disapproved by the Commission as a whole in an open meeting under Louisiana's Open Meetings Laws.

The AG distinguished preparation from decision. Individual commission members could review proposed changes and make recommendations. The final act of changing or correcting an assessment belonged to the Commission itself, which had to vote openly. He rejected the argument that avoiding a quorum outside a meeting avoided the open-meeting requirement for the Commission's action.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2003. 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.

What the opinion meant at issuance

Tax Commission members and staff

The AG said members could review or recommend assessment corrections individually, but the full Commission had to decide whether to approve each change order. That decision required an open meeting and an open vote.

Property assessors and taxpayers

The opinion treated an assessment correction as a Commission action, even though its written instructions went to the particular assessor. Two signatures obtained outside a meeting did not substitute for the public decision process the AG required.

Common questions

Q: Could two members sign off on an assessment change without a Commission meeting? A: The AG said no. The Commission itself had to approve or disapprove the proposed change in an open meeting.

Q: Could the Commission assign members to review proposed corrections? A: Yes. The opinion said review and recommendations could be delegated to individual members, while the final vote stayed with the Commission as a whole.

Q: Why did the AG reject the argument that no quorum had met? A: He said the issue was the need for the Commission's action to occur in an open meeting, not whether two members' earlier work counted as a meeting.

Background and statutory framework

The Tax Commission was empowered to change or correct property assessments to their proper valuation. The opinion classified it as a public body under the open-meetings law and relied on the state constitutional right to observe public-body deliberations. Its footnotes cited La. R.S. 42:5, La. R.S. 42:4.2 (A)(1), and La. R.S. 47:1990. The first-page March date stamp is OCR-damaged, so no exact issue date is assigned.

Citations and references

Authorities in the opinion: Article 12, Section 3 of the Louisiana Constitution; La. R.S. 42:5; La. R.S. 42:4.2 (A)(1); La. R.S. 47:1990. The opinion distinguished a cited zoning-appeals decision rather than applying it to the Tax Commission.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/03-0038

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain — the linked PDF is authoritative.

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
One American Place
301 Main Street, Suite 600
c,v~L mvms,oN
P.O. Box 94005
BATON ROUGE
TEL.: (225) 342-7013
FAX: (225) 342-2090
RICHARD P. IEYOUB
70804-9005
ATTORNEY GENERAL

ffAR .0 6 2003
Opinion Number 03-0038

90-B-4 Public Meetings
Mr. J. Pete Peters, Administrator
Article 12, Section 3 of Louisiana Constitution
Louisiana Tax Commission
La. R.S. 42:1, et seq.
P.O. Box 66788
Louisiana Tax Commission should issue
Baton Rouge, LA 70896
change orders in an open meeting pursuant to
Louisiana’s Open Meetings Laws.
Dear Mr. Peters:

As outlined in your request, the Louisiana Tax Commission is empowered by law to change or correct a property assessment so that it conforms to a true and correct valuation of the property. Historically, the Tax Commission has issued change orders through the signature of two commission members. The change orders have not been approved in an open meeting and you question if this procedure is appropriate.

In short, we believe the change orders should be approved by the Tax Commission in an open meeting pursuant to Louisiana’s Open Meetings Laws. Our constitution specifically provides that every person has the right to observe the deliberations of public bodies and examine public documents.1 As such, every meeting of any public body must be open to the public unless it falls within one of the exclusions provided by law." The Louisiana Tax Commission is a public body as that term is defined in the open meetings laws. A meeting is the convening of a quorum of a public body to deliberate or act on a matter that is within its supervision, control, jurisdiction, or advisory power. It also includes the convening of a quorum of a public body to receive information rega~rding a matter over which it has supervision, control, jurisdiction, or advisory power.

In light of the above, clearly, the Louisiana Tax Commission is a public body and is therefore subject to the open meetings laws. As mentioned, the Tax Commission is empowered to change or correct property assessments so that the assessments conform to the true and correct valuation of the property and it need only issue written instructions to the particular assessor to make the change and/or correction.4 A change order is issued by the Tax Commission, not individual commission members. The Tax Commission must, therefore, approve or disapprove of any proposed changes or corrections as a whole. Although we see no problem with the Commission delegating

Article 12, Section 3 of the Louisiana Constitution La. R.S. 42:5
La. R.S. 42:4.2 (A)(1)
La. R.S. 47:1990

Opinion Number 03-0038
Mr. J. Pete Peters, Administrator
Louisiana Tax Commission
Page -2-

the review and/or recommendation of changes and corrections to individual commission members, the ultimate decision to make a change or correction rests with the Tax Commission as a whole and it must vote, openly, on the proposed changes or corrections.

We reviewed the research and analysis of this issue by counsel for the Commission and we simply disagree. The issue is not that there is no meeting because there is no quorum but rather the issue is that such action must take place in a meeting that is open to the public. The case cited by counsels, we believe, is not applicable because it involves a parish zoning appeals board. The court concluded that the board was not subject to the open meetings law because it was a board of adjustment and as such was quasi-judicial in nature. A board of adjustment is a zoning appeals board and these boards are regulated by separate statutes.

Again, it is our opinion that change orders issued by the Louisiana Tax Commission must be done in an open meeting and pursuant to Louisiana’s Open Meetings Laws.

If you have any questions, please contact us.

With kindest regards,

Yours very truly,

RICHARD P. IEYOUB
Attorney General

BY:
TINA VICARI GRANT
Assistant Attorney General

RPI/TVG/dam

5 Central Metairie Civic Asso. v. The Parish of Jefferson, 478 So.2d 1298 (La. App. 5th Civ. 1985), writ denied, 481 So.2d 631.