Orleans Assessor Erroll G. Williams Qualifies Today

When Assessor Erroll G. Williams took his oath of office on January 1, 2011, he became the first citywide elected single Assessor for Orleans Parish. He now seeks re-election to that position.

As Orleans Parish Assessor, Williams oversees one of the state’s largest assessment rolls, valued at $4.5 billion, including 166,000 parcels and 10,000 businesses. The parish encompasses nearly 400 residential neighborhoods and 141 commercial corridors.

Assessor Williams has more than 35 years of experience in public service, including election as the Third Municipal District’s Assessor for more than 25 years. He is a Certified Louisiana Assessor and holds a Louisiana Real Estate License.

On November 7, 2006 Louisiana voters passed a measure (RS 47: 1901, Paragraph B) that reduced the number of Assessors in Orleans Parish from seven to one. Assessor Williams’ Third Municipal District was the largest of seven within the City of New Orleans.

In addition to his years of experience as a parish Assessor, Williams held various executive offices within the City of New Orleans, including Chief Administrative Officer (1984-85) and Director of Finance (1978-84). His esteemed career also includes time with Alexander Grant & Co. Certified Public Accountants (1975-78) and as an Internal Auditor with Goldman, Sachs, & Co., Investment Bankers (1971-73). He is a past President of the Louisiana Assessors’ Association.

Assessor Williams inauguration as a single Assessor marked a truly historic occasion in real estate tax assessments in New Orleans. For the first time, Orleans Parish is in concert with her 63 sister parishes that have had only one Assessor.           
           
Assessor Williams focus in his first term as the consolidated Assessor for Orleans has been to create a courteous, fair, equitable and transparent citywide assessment process that utilizes professional assessment practices and modern data-collection efforts. His consolidation plan included best practices recommended by the International Association of Assessing Officers.
           
During the past three years, he has improved customer service at City Hall, added and trained a professional appraisal staff, upgraded online services, integrated photos of all properties into a geographic database which allows consumers to compare property valuations with visual aides, expanded the open rolls period, and expanded locations for the public to interact with appraisers during the annual public review period.
           
His biggest task was to reappraise all residential and commercial property in Orleans Parish by one uniform system, eliminating seven highly individualized assessment practices. The process was complicated by the fact that more than 80 percent of all properties in the parish had been reduced in valuation following 2005’s Hurricane Katrina due to damages caused by extensive levee breeches and overcoming a poor information database.
           
Assessor Williams is a graduate of Joseph S. Clark Senior High School. Williams received his Bachelors of Arts degree in Accounting from Dillard University. His post-graduate studies include a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from Tulane University in Accounting and Finance.
            His staff includes approximately 60 employees.
        Williams is married 41 years to Cynthia Rich Williams and has two daughters, Erica and Enjoli.