Lafourche Parish Property Tax: Exemptions, Payments, and Appeals

Lafourche Parish property tax bills are calculated by multiplying your home’s assessed value (10% of its fair market value for residential property) by the combined millage rate for your ward, then dividing by 1,000. The Lafourche Parish Assessor sets the value, local taxing bodies set the millage, and the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office collects the payment, which is due by December 31 each year.¹ Combined millage rates across the parish ran from roughly 101 to 144 mills in 2025, so two homes of the same value can owe meaningfully different amounts depending on which fire, recreation, and special districts cover them.²

How Your Bill Is Calculated

The assessor appraises every property at fair market value, defined under Louisiana law as the price a willing, informed buyer and seller would agree on in the open market.³ The Louisiana Constitution requires reappraisal at least once every four years, and between those cycles your assessed value generally stays flat unless you build onto the property, subdivide it, or sell it.⁴

You aren’t taxed on the full market value. The constitution sets fixed assessment percentages by classification:

Land: 10% of fair market value
Residential improvements: 10% of fair market value
Commercial and other property: 15% of fair market value
Public service property such as utilities, pipelines, and railroads: 25% of fair market value

A home worth $200,000 has an assessed value of $20,000. One mill equals $1 for every $1,000 of assessed value, so if that home sits in a ward with a combined rate of 115 mills, the annual bill before any exemption is $20,000 × 115 ÷ 1,000, or $2,300. Your specific ward’s millage breakdown is on the assessor’s website.

The Homestead Exemption

If you own and occupy your home, Louisiana’s homestead exemption shields the first $75,000 of fair market value, or $7,500 in assessed value, from parish and special ad valorem taxes.⁵ A home valued at $150,000 has an assessed value of $15,000, but only $7,500 of that is taxable once the exemption applies. A home valued at $75,000 or less owes no parish property tax at all.

The exemption covers the house and the land it sits on, up to 160 acres. It does not reduce municipal taxes inside incorporated areas like Thibodaux or Lockport.

To claim it, file at the Lafourche Parish Assessor’s Office with your recorded deed and proof you live there, such as a utility bill. Eligibility is measured as of January 1 each year, and an application filed by December 31 of the year you bought the home generally applies to that year’s taxes. Once approved, the exemption carries forward until you sell, move out, or change the property’s use. Tell the assessor if you stop living there, so your account doesn’t fall out of compliance.

Extra Exemption for 100% Disabled Veterans

Veterans with a 100% service-connected disability rating from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs qualify for a second $7,500 of assessed value in exemption on top of the standard homestead, doubling the shelter to $150,000 of fair market value.⁶ Bring your VA rating letter to the assessor’s office to apply.

Assessment Freeze for Homeowners 65 and Older

Louisiana offers a special assessment level that locks in your home’s assessed value so later reassessments can’t push your taxes up. You qualify if you are at least 65 on January 1 of the qualifying year, you own and live in the home with an active homestead exemption, and your combined adjusted gross income falls below the annually adjusted threshold. That ceiling has been around $100,000, and a constitutional amendment on the November 2026 ballot would raise it to $150,000 if voters approve.

The freeze doesn’t cut your current bill. It stops future reassessments from raising the value the millage is applied to. If your income rises above the limit in a later year, you lose the freeze for that year but can reapply when your income drops back under. Apply at the assessor’s office with proof of age and income.

Paying Your Bill

The Sheriff’s Office posts tax statements online in late October and mails printed notices shortly after.⁷ Payment is due by December 31 and becomes delinquent on January 1.¹ You’ll need the tax notice number from the statement to look up your account.

Online, the Sheriff’s Office site accepts debit cards, credit cards, PayPal, Venmo, and e-check. Card payments carry a surcharge, and returned e-checks are charged a fee.⁸

In person, you can pay with cash, check, money order, or a card (surcharge applies) at three locations:⁸

Thibodaux, 104-A Canal Boulevard (Administrative Office)
Lockport, 805 Crescent Avenue (Criminal Operations Center)
Cut Off, 102 West 91st Street (South Lafourche Substation)

By mail, send a check or money order with the tax notice number on the memo line to the address on your statement. The U.S. Postal Service postmark determines whether a mailed payment is timely.

If You Think Your Assessment Is Too High

Start at the assessor’s office during the annual public inspection period, which typically runs August 1 through August 15. Bring evidence that points to a lower value: a recent independent appraisal, comparable sales, or documentation of flood damage or structural problems.

If the informal conversation doesn’t resolve it, file a written protest with the Lafourche Parish Council, which sits as the Board of Review. For the most recent assessment period, the filing deadline was September 2.⁹ Mail the protest by certified mail to P.O. Drawer 5548, Thibodaux, LA 70302, or deliver it in person at 402 Green Street in Thibodaux. Any supporting evidence must be submitted to the assessor before the Board of Review deadline closes.

If the Board of Review rules against you, you can appeal to the Louisiana Tax Commission. The Tax Commission reviews only the evidence that was in front of the Board of Review, so don’t save material for later.¹⁰ If you still disagree after that, you have 30 days to appeal to district court.

If You Don’t Pay

Starting January 1, any unpaid balance accrues interest at 1% per month on a noncompounding basis, plus a 5% penalty.¹ By the first Monday of February, the tax collector mails a certified notice warning that a tax lien on the property will be auctioned if you don’t pay within 20 days. If the certified letter comes back undeliverable, the sheriff is required to take further steps to find you, including searching court records, checking with the assessor for updated addresses, and potentially posting notice on the property itself.¹¹

Beginning in 2026, Louisiana uses a tax lien certificate system rather than the older tax title sale. Instead of the property itself being sold, the sheriff auctions a lien certificate. The winning bidder pays your delinquent taxes and holds a lien against your property that earns interest of up to 1% per month.¹¹ You can clear the lien any time before the certificate holder files a foreclosure action, but you’ll owe the original tax, the 5% penalty, all accrued interest, and the purchaser’s costs. If the lien goes unpaid long enough, the holder can foreclose.

If you can’t pay in full by December 31, contact the Sheriff’s Office before the deadline to ask what options are available.

1
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes 47-2127 – Time for Payment, Interest and Penalty, Notification
2
Lafourche Parish Assessor’s Office. 2025 Lafourche Parish Millage Rates
3
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code RS 47-2321 – Fair Market Value Defined
4
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Constitution Article VII Section 18 – Ad Valorem Taxes
5
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Constitution Article VII Section 20 – Homestead Exemption
6
Legal Information Institute. Louisiana Administrative Code Title 61 Section V-101 – Constitutional Principles for Property Taxation
7
Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office. Lafourche Parish 2025 Property Tax Statements Now Available Online
8
Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office. Pay Property Taxes
9
Lafourche Parish Assessor’s Office. Lafourche Parish Assessor’s Office
10
Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes 47-1989 – Review of Appeals by Tax Commission
11
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes 47-2153 – Tax Lien Certificate Notices