ALEXANDRIA — Rapides Parish Assessor Rick Ducote has valued Sheriff Mark Wood’s home in Boyce at $37,000 since at least 2016. Once the sheriff’s homestead exemption is factored in for his primary residence, it means Wood has received a tax bill of $0 for the past seven years.

Yet public records the Illuminator has obtained show Wood has taken multiple loans against his home — a gabled brick home with an in-ground pool that sits on a one-acre lot — worth far more than the figure Ducote has placed on it. In addition, adjoining properties Wood’s immediate family members own have received generous valuations — including a homestead exemption for his mother who died nine years ago.

The sheriff has refused to discuss his property taxes since the Illuminator first began reporting on them in May. He has also declined to respond to questions with respect to the loans he secured for his home.

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