Lincoln Parish Police Juror Walter Pullen today announced his candidacy for Lincoln Parish Tax Assessor in the fall election.
Pullen said his decision came after prayerful consideration and at the encouragement of constituents and local business leaders. He said he believes being assessor would give him an opportunity to better serve the taxpayers of Lincoln Parish.
For seven years, Pullen has served on the board of review for the tax assessments as a member of the police jury, and said he’s noticed “with great alarm, the ever-increasing number of individual tax payers who year in and year out come before the jury to appeal their property tax assessments.”
Pullen said he believes “it’s time we put ‘fair’ back in ‘fair market value’ for property evaluations.”
After reviewing the most recent Louisiana Legislative Auditor Report, Pullen said he noticed that even though the assessor’s office operates on an annual budget of less than $1 million a year, the office has over $3 million in surplus funds.
Pullen said that beginning on day one of his administration as tax assessor, his No. 1 priority would be putting the individual homeowner and tax payer first.
Furthermore, Pullen said he plans to begin immediately returning at least a million dollars of the surplus funds back to the taxpayers of Lincoln Parish.
Pullen came to Ruston to attend Louisiana Tech in 1984—where he earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree—and has never left.
“Ruston and Lincoln Parish are where my heart is,” he said.
Upon graduating college, Pullen entered into the pharmaceutical industry where he worked for a successful start-up company. During his career, Pullen was a well-known sales trainer, sales supervisor, district manager and regional manager. He managed multi-state districts with revenues well exceeding the annual budget of the assessor’s office.
After retiring from the pharmaceutical industry, Pullen dedicated his time to the police jury, where he has served two terms.
As a police juror, Pullen said he has helped saved taxpayers almost a million dollars through his position as chairman of the Solid Waste and Recycling Committee.
He said one of the things he’s most proud of in all of his years on the police jury is that he’s never voted for an increase in property taxes and has helped lead the charge to cut the total property millages every year for the past six years.
Pullen said his drive to give back to the community is what inspired him to run for the police jury in the fall of 2011. Now, this need to serve is what’s compelled him to run for tax assessor, he said.
Pullen said he has the professional training and educational background for assessor’s position, and he would like the opportunity to bring those skills to the office of tax assessor.
He and his wife, Heather Pullen, have raised three children—Auldon, Addison and Brittain — while living in Ruston.
Both Auldon and Addison graduated from Ruston High School, and the youngest child, Brittain, attends Ruston High now where he is enrolled in the special education program.
Through the years, Pullen has been involved in leading adult and youth Sunday school classes and leading youth programs at Trinity United Methodist Church, where he and his family are members, coaching youth sports teams, and volunteering throughout the community.
“The community of Ruston has been such a blessing to me and my family, I’ve been inspired to return that kindness through service to my community,” Pullen said. “I have been overwhelmed by the kindness and support of the Ruston community and everything the people of Ruston have done for my family and me.”
He said that generosity had led him to feel called to serve in a way he feels most beneficial: local government.
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