Amendment 9: Higher Income Limit for the Special Property Assessment Level
Statewide — all of Louisiana
General election · Tuesday, November 3, 2026
- Referred to the ballot by the Louisiana Legislature as House Bill 300 of the 2025 Regular Session (Act 220 of 2025), sponsored by Rep. Shane Mack (R), and scheduled by its terms for the November 3, 2026 statewide election. It passed the House 91-2 and the Senate 35-2 (per the bill history). Amendments require two-thirds of each chamber and no gubernatorial signature.[1][2]
The question on the ballot
Do you support an amendment to increase the maximum amount of income a person may receive and still qualify for the special assessment level for residential property receiving the homestead exemption? (Effective January 1, 2027) (Amends Article VII, Section 18(G)(1)(a)(ii))[2][5]
The special assessment level freezes the assessed value of homestead property owned and occupied by people aged 65 or older, veterans with a service-connected disability rating of 50 percent or more, certain military members killed, missing or held prisoner, and the permanently and totally disabled. Eligibility is limited to those with adjusted gross income of $100,000 or less (adjusted for inflation beginning with tax year 2026). The amendment raises the income limit to $150,000, with inflation adjustment beginning with tax year 2028, lets assessors verify income from the federal adjusted gross income reported on the Louisiana income tax return, and requires taxing authorities to absorb any resulting revenue decrease without shifting tax liability to other taxpayers. Fiscal impact (Legislative Fiscal Office): the bill "can only serve to decrease ad valorem tax revenue collections" as more properties become eligible and forgo future assessment increases; the magnitude cannot be determined because income data tied to property ownership is not readily available.[3][4]
A YES vote means
Raises the maximum income for the special assessment level (property assessment freeze) on eligible homesteads from $100,000 to $150,000, effective January 1, 2027.
A NO vote means
Keeps the $100,000 income limit (adjusted for inflation) for the special assessment level.
The law today
The Constitution (Art. VII, Sec. 18(G)) freezes the assessed value of homestead property owned and occupied by people age 65 or older, veterans with a service-connected disability rating of 50% or more, certain members of the armed forces or National Guard killed, missing in action or held as prisoners of war, and the permanently and totally disabled, if their adjusted gross income for the prior year is $100,000 or less, with the limit adjusted annually for inflation beginning with tax year 2026. The Legislative Fiscal Office reports 422,344 properties receiving these special assessments statewide in the 2024 Tax Commission annual report.[3][4]
Official fiscal estimate
Legislative Fiscal Office fiscal note on the enrolled bill: "There is no anticipated direct material effect on governmental expenditures as a result of this measure," with minimal ballot processing costs for the Department of State. On revenue, the amount cannot be determined because income data tied to property ownership is not readily available, but "the bill can only serve to decrease ad valorem tax revenue collections" as more properties become eligible and forgo future assessment increases; local revenue would decrease for entities funded by millage charged against special-assessment property. The note adds that a significant change in local property tax collections could affect the local effort in the Minimum Foundation Program calculation and, in turn, the State General Fund. The next major impact is expected with Tax Year 2028 payments.[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; the bill passed with only 2 no votes in each chamber. Ballotpedia's page for this amendment contains legislative-history text from a 2020 bill; the 2025 legislature's records (HB 300, Act 220) were used instead. Added Oct 19, 2026: no supporter or opponent organizations, campaign committees or campaign-finance filings were found or verified for this amendment (no supporter/opponent or campaign-finance fields added); the official sources contain no arguments, and the nonpartisan PAR guide's pro/con text is PAR's own summary of arguments rather than a statement by a named advocate, so it was not quoted as an argument.
Sources · 5
Researched 2026-10-19. Green citations are official government records.
- 1.HB 300 (2025 session) (Act 220 of 2025), bill history and votes · Louisiana Legislature Official record
- 2.Enrolled HB 300 (2025 session): joint resolution and ballot proposition · Louisiana Legislature Official record
- 3.Résumé Digest, Act 220 of 2025 (HB 300 (2025 session)) · Louisiana Legislature Official record
- 4.Legislative Fiscal Office fiscal note, enrolled HB 300 (2025 session) · Louisiana Legislative Fiscal Office Official record
- 5.PAR Guide to the Fall 2026 Constitutional Amendments · Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana · 2026-10 Reference