Assessor, 1st Municipal District

League of Women Voters^®
of New Orleans

Assessor, 1st Municipal District

Darren Mire

NAME: Darren Mire
CONTACT INFORMATION FOR PUBLICATION:
Address: P.O. Box 57373, New Orleans, LA 70157-7373
Phone: (504) 658-1310
FAX: (504) 658-1312
Email: dgmire@orleansassessors.com
Website: http://www.opba1md.com
PARTY AFFILIATION: Democrat
PROFESSION: Assessor
PRESENT EMPLOYER/POSITION: Orleans Parish Board of Assessors/Assessor-1st Municipal District
HIGHEST LEVEL OF EDUCATION: Masters of Professional Studies, August 2001
APPLICABLE TRAINING:
10 years in the property tax/appraisal field before being elected as Assessor in 2002
Real Estate Sales License from the Uptown Professional Real Estate School
Completed coursework to become a Certified Louisiana Assessor (CLA)
By years end, will have completed coursework for Certified Assessment Evaluator (CAE) from the International Association of Assessing Officers (AAO)
Property Tax Instructor for Lorman Education Services
CIVIC EXPERIENCE:
New Orleans Regional Leadership Institute (NORLI) 2005
Stuart Hall School Board of Trustees 2004-Present
Louisiana Children's Museum, Board of Directors 2004-Present
WYES-TV, Board of Trustees 2003-Present
Jesuit High School President's Advisory Council 2003-Present
International Association of Assessing Officers 2002-Present
Louisiana Assessors' Association 2002-Present
Board of Directors (2004)
Second Harvesters Food Bank, Board of Directors 2001-Present
Young Leadership Council 1992-Present
President (2000)
Vice President of Projects (1999)
Board of Directors (1998-2001)
Boys To Men Mentor Program 1992-Present
President, 1995-96
Dryades YMCA Board of Directors 1992-Present
Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. (New Orleans Alumni) 1987-Present
Central City Housing Development Corporation, Board of Directors 1998-2002
Central City Economic Opportunity Corporation, Board of Directors 1996-2002
Committee For A Better New Orleans, Board of Directors 2000-2001
Co-chair, City Management and Finance Task Force
Forever Our Children, Inc, Role Model 2000-2001
New Orleans Outreach, Board of Directors 1998-2001
Vice President (2001)
Metropolitan Area Committee (MAC) Leadership Forum 1995
POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Elected Assessor, Orleans Parish - 1st Municipal District, 2002
POLITICAL ORGANIZATION MEMBERSHIPS: None
1. If you are elected to this office, will you work to consolidate the seven assessor offices into one office with sufficient resources and staff?
Yes. As a public servant, I'm not opposed to the people having a say as to whether they want one assessor or seven assessors. I like the wording of this question because the key caveat to moving to a one assessor system is to make sure that the office is adequately funded. Currently, all seven assessment districts are under funded, compared to the budgets of other assessment offices of the same size nationwide. So, consolidating them would just mean that the one assessor in Orleans Parish would be under funded. However, much of the discussion around the one assessor bill that was in front of the legislature in February was portrayed as a cost saving measure, when in fact; no cost savings will be made by going to a one assessor system. The money will be saved, initially in salaries, but will be reallocated to fund various appraisers, computer technicians, etc.
2. If you are elected, will you pledge to be trained as a Certified Assessor Evaluator or Appraisal Supervisor to meet the standards set by the International Association of Assessing Officers?
Yes. I've worked diligently toward this designation during my tenure. I have to complete IAAO course 311, which will be taken in May 2006 and a final appraisal project in order to complete my CAE designation. Part of the requirements for a CAE designation is that you have to be an Assessor for 5 years. I have a strong chance of getting this requirement waived due to my extensive experience in the property tax field before I became Assessor. Getting my CAE designation will be one of the highlights of my professional life, potentially making me the only sitting Assessor in the State of Louisiana with this designation.
3. Will you agree to publish a list of exempt properties annually?
Currently, lists of exempt properties are published annually as part of the assessment roll. These properties are, and always have been a part of the roll and can be found on the published roll at my office and on my website http://www.opba1md.com or on the Orleans Parish Board of Assessors website, http://www.opboa.org.
4. How will the staff training and the data entry necessary for the new computer system be funded?
The new computer system is already paid for. It was paid for with the pro rata share of each tax recipient body in Orleans Parish. The funding for the training for the new Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal (CAMA) system is being paid for by the Orleans Parish Board of Assessors. The big issue now is the data collection to populate the fields in the CAMA system. The lowest price quoted to complete the data collection is $12,960,000. This data collection will include all the measuring and physical characteristics of each parcel city-wide. In order for the cost, income and market approach valuations to take place in CAMA, it is important that the data collection process gets funded as soon as possible. If were going to be on the cutting edge of fixing our assessment system and taking the personality out of the assessment process. I believe that the state legislature has to look into a way to get this data collection funded because currently the City of New Orleans, post Katrina, cannot afford the amount of money it takes to have this done the right way.

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