Scrambling to head off another broad revolt over Road Home grant calculations, state officials said Wednesday they have overhauled methods used in estimating pre-storm values of homes. The new procedures shift emphasis from computer-generated assessments to traditional appraisals by people.
The moves came as some citizens say they think the Road Home program has low-balled them in estimating pre-storm property value, a figure critical to the ultimate size of grant awards because it sets a ceiling from which deductions for insurance and FEMA real estate grants are made. The problems seem most acute in Orleans Parish, where neighborhoods with checkerboard demographics and home values aren't well-suited to "average" calculations of value used in the automated assessments.
Rather than the automated appraisal methods, officials now will use a combination of pre-storm appraisals obtained from private assessors or government agencies. For appraisal years before the storm, a formula will be used to calculate appreciation in a home's value.
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