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LABI-Opposed Homestead Boost Arrives to Ways & Means

 

The 2026 legislative session will include yet another push to increase the Homestead Exemption—an effort LABI will once again oppose.

The House Ways & Means Committee is hearing companion bills later this morning to allow individual parishes to raise the Homestead Exemption by up to $5,000. HB 440 by Rep. Candace Newell (D-New Orleans) is the Constitutional Amendment that would go before voters on Nov. 3, 2026, and if approved, would go into effect on Jan. 1, 2027. Any increase would be applicable to property taxes beginning in tax year 2027.

HB 543, also by Rep. Newell, includes the necessary statutory language allowing for an increase in the exemption.

As outlined in our Program of Work, LABI opposes measures to increase the homestead exemption, as that move would further shift the property tax burden to other taxpayers, including small businesses.

A similar version of this bill was run last year. The measure, HB 271 by former Rep. Matthew Willard, did not receive the two-thirds vote on the House Floor required for Constitutional Amendments, failing 42-58.