Iberia Parish assessor reports $26.7 million assessed-value increase on 2025 tax roll

Ashley Spiker, Iberia Parish Assessor, briefed the council on the parish’s 2025 tax roll on Sept. 24 and said the books are complete and awaiting final approval.

"Compared to 2024, we have 26,702,880 assessed value increase," Spiker said, describing gains mostly on the personal property side. She cited a recently completed pipeline that added about $6,500,000 in assessed value and said inventory/vehicle values rose by roughly $10,000,000. Machinery and equipment rose by about $4.7 million and residential improvements increased by about $1.3 million, Spiker said.

Spiker told council members the tax roll was open for public inspection from Aug. 27 through Sept. 11 and that there had been no appeals to date. She warned that if the legislature reintroduces an inventory tax measure and constituents approve changes, the parish council, school board and sheriff would have to vote unanimously to stop local collection.

"That made up 40% of that $26,000,000 increase," Spiker said of inventory-related changes, adding that if the measure were removed the parish would need to make up significant revenue—she quantified that example as on the order of ‘‘$100,000,000 in taxes’’ (as stated in the presentation).

Council members did not vote on the tax roll at the moment of the presentation; later in the meeting the council accepted the 2025 property valuations per a separate resolution introduced by the clerk.

Spiker encouraged members with later questions to contact the assessor’s office for details and said staff are available to share breakdowns by class.