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Our call — vote YES
The measure
This is a legislatively referred constitutional amendment. After each four-year property reassessment, Louisiana millages are rolled back so collections stay flat, and a taxing authority may roll forward toward its voter-authorized maximum — but only until the next reassessment; an authority that stays at a lower rate permanently loses the higher maximum. This amendment (HB 521) ends that use-it-or-lose-it rule: an authority may levy a lower rate for longer without losing the ability to roll forward later, up to the voter-authorized maximum until that authorization expires. Roll-forwards still require a two-thirds vote of the taxing body after a public hearing, per the PAR guide.
What YES does
A YES vote removes the deadline pressure that pushes taxing bodies to roll forward to the maximum now for fear of losing it.
What NO does
A NO vote keeps the current cycle: use the maximum before the next reassessment, or lose it.
The math
The PAR guide publishes no dollar fiscal estimate for this amendment. Louisiana's constitution requires a two-thirds vote of the Legislature to place an amendment on the ballot, and a majority of voters to enact it — all ten Louisiana measures in this batch are legislatively referred constitutional amendments.
OUR CALL
Our call: YES.
PAR's analysis names the current system's defect plainly: it leads to over-taxation, because bodies roll forward to the maximum to avoid losing the authority. Removing the gun from the table lets a taxing body charge only what it needs this year while keeping the maximum voters themselves authorized. The ceiling is still set by voters at election; this amendment restrains the incentive to hit it. YES.
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Sources
- Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, Guide to the Fall 2026 Constitutional Amendments — https://parlouisiana.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/PAR-Guide-to-the-Fall-2026-Constitutional-Amendments.pdf
- Ballotpedia News, Louisiana 2026 constitutional amendments — https://news.ballotpedia.org/2026/06/03/louisiana-voters-will-decide-on-10-legislatively-referred-ballot-measures-in-nov-2026/
Result pending. No verified call (Associated Press or official) as of November 4, 2026. This page will be updated when the race is called or certified. The original article above is unchanged.
AI-assisted article — but the sources are human, and the facts are very real.