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Certified Louisiana Assessor |
LAWRENCE E. CHEHARDY, CLA
ASSESSOR, JEFFERSON PARISH
200 Derbigny Street Gretna, Louisiana 70053 (504) 362-4100 (504) 736-6370 FAX
(504) 366-4087 Web site: www.jpassessor.com |
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March 1, 2010
By Facsimile to (504) 826-3812
Letters to the Editor 3800 Howard
Avenue New Orleans, Louisiana 70125
Dear Editor,
The story in the Sunday edition
regarding assessments in Jefferson Parish reflected a gross
lack of knowledge on your reporter’s part on the appraisal
of property. I spoke at length to Mr. Waller explaining why
his method of valuation and comparisons of assessments and
sales prices was incorrect. He just didn’t get it.
Mass appraisal techniques used by
assessors all over the world are an accepted method of
property appraisal. Drive-by appraisals or front door
appraisals, the method used by Mr. Waller, are not. In fact,
such appraisals are bogus.
By law the 2008 reassessment was based
on property values as of January 1, 2007. Property values
for 2008 and later years were not used because state law
prohibited such use. Yet Mr. Waller used those sales prices
anyway and drew faulty conclusions from them.
Regarding the assessment of my home
that value was obtained by me hiring a professional
appraiser to value the property. He inspected my home,
looked at comparable sales, and determined its value. Mr.
Waller did not follow this method. For Mr. Waller to claim
that my home is incorrectly assessed because he claims it is
worth more today than it was nearly four ago is another
example of his lack of understanding with which this article
was written. If in fact my home is worth more today, that
higher value will be reflected in the 2012 reassessment. By
law it should not be reflected in the current assessment.
Overall the article concludes that the
job I am doing as assessor is done well. My disappointment
is that the article misleads readers. The analysis used is
not an acceptable method of appraisal and should not be used
to criticize any aspect of the job done by my office.
Furthermore, the time frame for value determination is wrong
by state law. Assessors should be accurate and fair and so
should reporters.
Sincerely,
Lawrence E. Chehardy, CLA Assessor
Jefferson Parish
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