The eighteen-year schedule, for anyone reconciling old budgets

Citizens' own assessment-procedures document sets out the uniform percentage applied to all assessable insureds, year by year: 2007, 3.60%; 2008, 5.00%; 2009, 5.00%; 2010, 4.30%; 2011, 4.00%; 2012, 3.90%; 2013, 3.74%; 2014, 3.54%; 2015, 3.42%; 2016, 2.93%; 2017, 2.52%; 2018, 2.57%; 2019, 2.65%; 2020, 2.60%; 2021, 2.49%; 2022, 2.40%; 2023, 2.10%; 2024, 1.70%; and 2025, 1.36% — to zero from April 1, 2025.

An association that has been carrying the assessment as a fixed percentage of master-policy premium in its budget model has a line that should now read zero, and a historical series that is not comparable year to year.²

What an emergency assessment legally is, which matters for collections

Act 416 of 2026 restated the character of these levies while redirecting their surplus, and the restatement is the useful part:

“Emergency assessments collected under Subsection E of this Section are not part of an insurer's rates, are not premium, and are not subject to premium tax, fees, or commissions. However, failure to pay the emergency assessment shall be treated as failure to pay premium.”

Not premium for tax and commission purposes; treated as premium for the purpose of losing your coverage. That asymmetry is worth knowing if a Louisiana assessment is ever levied again.

Where the leftover money now goes

Act 416 of the 2026 Regular Session, effective on the Governor's signature May 27, 2026, created a defined pipeline. It added a definition:

“(13) 'Excess emergency assessment monies' means monies derived from emergency assessments levied pursuant to R.S. 22:2307 that are no longer required to pay, secure, or otherwise satisfy bonds or other indebtedness payable from, or secured by, emergency assessment revenues, together with any amounts required under the related financing documents for fees, expenses, reserves, and similar obligations.”

And a destination:

“E. Following the certification required by Subsection C of this Section, the corporation shall transfer excess emergency assessment monies, in accordance with the resolution adopted by the board of directors, to the state treasurer for deposit into the state treasury for deposit into the Louisiana Fortify Homes Program Fund, in accordance with R.S. 22:1483.1, for the exclusive purpose of funding the Louisiana Fortify Homes Program in accordance with the provisions of R.S. 22:1483.1.”

With reporting: Citizens must post the board resolution publicly and file “[a] report within sixty days of the transfer of monies … stating the amount transferred, the administrative costs paid … and the date of transfer” with the House and Senate insurance committees.

There is a wrinkle worth naming plainly. The Fortify Homes Program's own eligibility rules state that “[t]he home must be a residence with a homestead exemption that is not a condominium or mobile home.” So money collected from condominium association master policies is now statutorily earmarked to a grant programme condominiums cannot apply to. We report the design; we are not alleging anyone did anything improper.³

What a board can do

• Zero the line in the budget model. And note the R.S. 9:1141.34(A)(1) budget summary goes to owners within thirty days of adoption, so an obsolete surcharge line is a visible one.
• Check any policy effective on or after April 1, 2025. If an assessment was collected, Citizens will not accept it and the carrier owes a refund to the policyholder.
• Do not read the removal as a rate cut. The assessment was never part of the rate, and Citizens' commercial pricing moved separately.

What to watch next

Citizens' public reporting under R.S. 22:2317(G) — the board resolution and the sixty-day transfer report — which will show how much surplus actually exists and when it moves. And R.S. 22:2317(A), which retains the Katrina and Rita surcharge refund-notice requirement, now qualified by “[a]s applicable.”