Sales tax rebate may be lowered

Published 12:00 am Friday, July 23, 2010

By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – An ordinance to lower the compensation paid to dealers who collect sales taxes levied by St. John the Baptist Parish is up for discussion by the Parish Council at a meeting Tuesday in LaPlace.

The ordinance, proposed by Council Chairman Ronnie Smith, would decrease a monthly premium paid to sales tax collectors who file tax collection paperwork on time. The parish currently offers businesses a 2 percent return on the total sales tax collected when they file on time, but the ordinance would lower the compensation to 1 percent.

Smith said the move could save the parish nearly $250,000, which could be used to help the St. John Parish School System in its current budget crisis.

“If I have a school system that is struggling to educate our children because of a dire need for money, I’m going to make every effort to assist them,” Smith said. “This is one simple way to produce more funding for them.”

Despite the anticipated savings for the parish, not all council members are on board with the proposal. District 7 Councilwoman Cheryl Millet said the move penalizes business owners who are doing the right thing.

“The parish decided years ago to offer this compensation when sales taxes are submitted on time,” Millet said. “It is unfair to the business owners who are taking the time to submit the paperwork for the parish. Many that I have spoken to are unhappy about it.”

Millet, who owns Saint Optical in LaPlace, said the 2 percent compensation means a lot to some businesses continuing to struggle through a rough economy.

“Some business owners stand to lose a great deal of money with this,” she said. “I don’t think it is right for us to be punished.”

If approved, the ordinance would take affect Oct. 1.

The council will also consider agreements with Entergy for use of parish facilities in the event of an emergency. The parish is looking to renew three agreements that allow Entergy to use Regala Park, the St. John Community Center and the U.S. Highway 51 library as staging areas for equipment so it can immediately begin power restoration.

The council will also discuss a resolution in support of a permit for a truck stop on Airline Highway in Garyville. The truck stop, which will include video poker machines, garnered approval from the parish Planning and Zoning Board at a meeting earlier this month. The truck stop would use land near the intersection of Airline Highway and Louisiana Highway 54.

The meeting is set for 6:15 p.m. at the Percy Hebert Building in LaPlace.