Amendment 10: Property Tax Exemption for Rehabilitated Blighted or Derelict Property
Statewide — all of Louisiana
General election · Tuesday, November 3, 2026
- Referred to the ballot by the Louisiana Legislature as House Bill 214 (Act 272), sponsored by Rep. Chance Henry (R); amendments require a two-thirds vote of each chamber and no gubernatorial signature. The House passed it 80-12 and the Senate 33-2 (per the bill history).[1][3]
The question on the ballot
Do you support an amendment to allow property tax exemptions for blighted or derelict properties that have been rehabilitated, and to require the legislature to enact laws providing for administration of these exemptions? (Effective January 1, 2027) (Adds Article VII, Section 21(P))[2][5]
The amendment adds an optional ad valorem (property) tax exemption for blighted or derelict property that has been rehabilitated. The Legislature must define blighted and derelict property and set in law the term of the exemption and the conditions, requirements and procedures a political subdivision needs to administer it. It applies to tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2027. Fiscal impact (Legislative Fiscal Office): no anticipated direct material effect on governmental expenditures; the effect on local property-tax revenue is "indeterminable" because it depends on how many parishes adopt the exemption and on rehabilitation and property-value changes, and the amount and duration of the exemption are left to later legislation.[3][4]
A YES vote means
Allows an optional property tax exemption for rehabilitated blighted or derelict property, with the Legislature to define the terms and the exemption's term and conditions.
A NO vote means
Does not add this optional exemption to the Constitution, so rehabilitated blighted or derelict property would not receive a new constitutional exemption.
The law today
The Constitution lists specific property exempt from ad valorem taxation (such as public lands, certain boats, burial places and some nonprofit property) and has no exemption for rehabilitated blighted or derelict property.[4][5]
Official fiscal estimate
The Legislative Fiscal Office anticipates no direct material effect on governmental expenditures, and says the effect on local property-tax revenue "is indeterminable" because it depends on how many parishes adopt the exemption, how much rehabilitation it spurs and the resulting change in property values.[4]
Arguments made for
- None found in public sources.
Arguments made against
- None found in public sources.
Research notes & limits
Ballot question text is the proposition printed in the enrolled joint resolution, which directs that it be placed on the Nov 3, 2026 ballot; vote counts, Act numbers and fiscal information are from the Louisiana Legislature's bill pages, résumé digests and Legislative Fiscal Office notes. The Louisiana Secretary of State's certified list could not be loaded (sos.la.gov election pages returned 404 on Oct 19, 2026), so the Amendment 1-10 numbering and the question wording were checked against the nonpartisan PAR Guide to the Fall 2026 Constitutional Amendments, which lists the same ten amendments in the same order with the same question text; the parenthetical effective-date and constitutional-citation text follows the enrolled resolution. Louisiana has no citizen initiative and publishes no voter-pamphlet arguments; a majority of votes cast approves an amendment. No supporting or opposing arguments or campaign committees were found in the sources reviewed. Enrichment (Oct 19): current law and fiscal impact are drawn from the enrolled-version Legislative Fiscal Office notes (or the Legislative Auditor's actuarial note for Amendment 5) and the PAR guide; Amendments 4 and 8 have no fiscal note. PAR's guide gives unattributed 'argument for/against' summaries rather than quotes from named people or groups, so they are not used as arguments. No registered campaign committees or campaign-finance filings were found for any of these amendments.
Sources · 5
Researched 2026-10-19. Green citations are official government records.
- 1.HB 214 (Act 272), bill history and votes · Louisiana Legislature Official record
- 2.Enrolled HB 214: joint resolution and ballot proposition · Louisiana Legislature Official record
- 3.Résumé Digest, Act 272 (HB 214) · Louisiana Legislature Official record
- 4.Legislative Fiscal Office fiscal note, enrolled HB 214 · Louisiana Legislative Fiscal Office Official record
- 5.PAR Guide to the Fall 2026 Constitutional Amendments · Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana · 2026-10 Reference