Chesson: Homestead Exemption was an Error, Not a ‘Fraud’

LAKE CHARLES, La. - Oct. 13, 2014 - PRLog -- Allegations of fraud are a result of an error on the part of the Cameron Parish Assessor’s Office, not an effort to dodge taxes, Calcasieu Parish D.A. candidate Christian Chesson said today.

In recent days, commenters on Facebook and elsewhere have made allegations that Chesson committed “tax fraud” by claiming a homestead exemption at a property in Cameron Parish while living for years in Calcasieu Parish.

“When I changed my legal domicile and voter registration to Calcasieu Parish more than three years ago, I notified the Assessor’s Office in Cameron Parish,” Chesson said.  “I was honestly unaware that they had not removed the homestead exemption from that property, which I have not occupied since 2011. I also have several real estate investments – most of them commercial – and pay my taxes, all of which is also a public record.  The home in which I have resided with my family in recent years is owned by my father, who lives in a property I own in Texas; neither of us claims a homestead exemption on those properties.

“Honestly, if my opponent is concerned about taxes and who is paying them, he might try to offer a reasonable explanation for his blatant use of taxpayer money for political purposes in recent months,” Chesson said.  “His violations of the law are blatant, as they are plastered on billboards throughout our parish and online, and that’s a far bigger concern to the voters than a clerical error in the Assessor’s Office in another parish.”