La. Tax Commission Leaders Say They Work For Fairness

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Officials with the LouisianaTax Commission say they are doing their best to make sure parish tax assessors are accurately setting property taxes.

But they didn't say whether the commission is redesigning its review processes to address concerns raised in an audit.

Charles Abels, administrator for the commission, says the office is doing everything it can within its $3.8 million budget to make sure "people aren't paying more than their fair share."

Abels spoke at a legislative hearing Thursday, responding to an audit that said the commission regularly approved changes that assessors made to tax bills without checking the accuracy of those changes.

Lawmakers plan another hearing to check on commission progress in following audit recommendations.

None of the five commissioners, all appointed by the governor, appeared at Thursday's hearing.