Vermilion Parish assessor says parish has more valuable land/homes than movable property

Vermilion Parish’s homes, buildings and land have more assessed value than the working movable equipment in the parish, which is good and bad news.

Gabe Marceaux, the parish tax assessor, spoke to FUEL members Wednesday and explained to them how the assessor’s office works and what taxes are collected in the parish.

In his presentation at the Abbeville Library, he showed FUEL members that the parish has more total assessed value, $403 million, than in 2011, but where the value is coming from has shifted.

When the oil and gas industry was booming in the 1970s and 1980s, it was not uncommon for movable property to have more value than real property in the parish.

But as the oilfield industry slowly began to decline, the assessed value of movable property has slowly gotten less and less, while real property assessment has increased,

Then around 2010, assessed value for real property overtook moveable property. It does not look like the trend will end anytime soon.

Marceaux showed the numbers to FUEL members.

Last year moveable properties in the parish had an assessed value of $142 million, which was $12.5 million less than a year ago.

The slow decline in assessed value for movable properties means there is less and less oil field equipment, oil wells or businesses in the parish.

“This is nothing to get excited about,” said Marceaux.

On the other hand, Marceaux showed positive numbers for real property assessed value.

In 2012, the parish had $202 million of assessed value for real property, which was $12 million better than the year before.

“This is something to get excited about,” said Marceaux.

Marceaux showed on a chart where the home and land value increase is occurring in the parish.

The big increases have been in the northern part of the parish near the Maurice and Indian Bayou area. Also, in the eastern part of the parish near the Youngsville area there has been an increase in the number of homes.

While those areas have had a jump on average of $1.7 million in certain wards for the year, there has not been as much of an increase

in the southern part of the parish.

Example: In the Seventh Ward Area (south of Abbeville), homes, buildings and land values increased by only $144,000 from 2011 to 2012. Homes, buildings and land were worth $11 million in 2011.

On the other hand, north of Abbeville, along the Vermilion River and in between Abbeville and Maurice, assessed real property value jumped from $25 million in 2011 to $27.2 million in 2012 and continued growth is expected in 2013.

Marceaux predicted for 2013, that assessed value for real property will continue to increase, due to construction of new homes, while assessed value for movable property looks like it will climb as well.

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