New Orleans apartment buildings are taxed on a share of their fair market value set by the Orleans Parish Assessor, multiplied by a citywide millage that totals 121.20 mills for 2026. Which share applies depends on classification: land and residential improvements are assessed at 10% of value, while commercial improvements are assessed at 15%, so how a building is classified and valued drives most of the bill.
One parish, one assessor
The City of New Orleans and Orleans Parish share the same boundaries, so a single elected assessor values every parcel in the city and a single set of millages applies. The ratios come from the Louisiana Constitution. Article VII, Section 18 sets land and residential improvements at 10% of fair market value and “other property” at 15%. The Orleans Parish Assessor’s FAQ applies that locally: residential property and land at 10%, commercial and industrial buildings at 15%.
The Orleans FAQ does not address apartments by name. Some Louisiana assessors, such as Bossier Parish’s, expressly list apartments under residential improvements, but owners of larger complexes and mixed-use buildings in New Orleans should confirm with the Assessor’s office how their parcel is classified. The difference is material. On a building improvement valued at $2 million, a 10% ratio produces $200,000 of assessed value, while 15% produces $300,000, before any millage is applied.
How value is set for income-producing buildings
Because rental buildings trade on income, the Assessor gathers rent and expense data. Ahead of the last citywide revaluation, the office sent income and expense forms to all commercial and exempt property owners, due April 1, 2023, to improve accuracy in valuing income-producing properties, according to its February 2023 notice. That notice stated that completing the form was not a legal requirement.
Louisiana’s property reporting statute, R.S. 47:2325, also prescribes a standard form for apartment property that asks for units by bedroom count, rents, vacancy and annual rental income. An owner who submits accurate, well-documented numbers gives the Assessor a defensible basis for an income-based value instead of one built from market assumptions.
The four-year revaluation and the millage reset
The Constitution requires property to be reappraised at intervals of no more than four years. The most recent New Orleans revaluation moved values from January 1, 2019 to January 1, 2023 levels for the 2024 tax year, and the Bureau of Governmental Research reported that citywide values rose about 23%.
A revaluation does not automatically raise total taxes. Article VII, Section 23 requires millage rates to be adjusted after reappraisal so that total collections stay flat. Taxing bodies can then “roll forward” toward their prior maximum rate, but only with a two-thirds vote of the governing body after a public hearing. The city’s Bureau of Treasury reports the citywide rate at 123.20 mills in 2024 and 121.20 mills in 2025 and 2026, and its tax calculation page notes a proposed 2027 roll-forward with a City Council hearing scheduled for November 5, 2026.
Who levies the 121.20 mills
The citywide total is a stack of separate millages, each approved by voters or a governing body. The largest pieces include:
- Orleans Parish School Board: 45.31 mills.
- Board of Liquidation: 14.50 mills.
- City alimony: 12.23 mills.
- Dedicated millages for police, fire, libraries, the Sewerage and Water Board’s drainage system, Audubon, NORD, parks and early childhood programs.
Levee district millages are listed separately as special millages. A building’s tax is its assessed value multiplied by the total millage, divided by 1,000. At 121.20 mills, every $100,000 of assessed value produces about $12,120 of annual tax. Bills are typically mailed in late December and are usually due January 31, with interest of 1% per month on late balances, according to the city’s treasury FAQ.
The $7,500 homestead exemption in the Constitution applies to property that is owned and occupied as a home, so it does not reduce tax on units leased to tenants.
What owners can do about their assessment
- Review the value during open rolls. For the 2027 tax year, the rolls were open for public inspection July 15 to August 17, 2026, with online appeals accepted through August 20.
- Appeal to the Board of Review. In New Orleans the City Council serves as the Board of Review and holds hearings each fall, as the Council’s assessment appeals page explains.
- Go to the Louisiana Tax Commission if needed. A Board of Review decision can be appealed in writing to the Commission within 10 business days, and then to the courts.
Taxes are usually one of the largest expense lines for a New Orleans building, so a change in classification, value or millage flows straight to net operating income. Owners can model that effect with our NOI calculator, and see how local conditions compare on our New Orleans market page and the wider Louisiana markets page.
