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LAPLACE — A vote by the St. John the Baptist Parish in November denying tax exemptions for two major plants may be void because of missing a deadline in filing the necessary paperwork, according to the Louisiana Economic Development office.

In a letter dated Jan. 17 and obtained by L’OBSERVATEUR through a public records request, Kristin Cheng, program administrator of the Industrial Tax Exemption Program, informed council secretary Jackie Landeche the exemptions will be approved because of the delay in filing the paperwork when the exemptions were denied.

During the Nov. 26 meeting, the council, with strong support from residents in attendance, voted to deny tax exemptions to Marathon Petroleum LP and Nalco Company.

However, in the letter Cheng noted, “notice of the council’s action was not received and therefore, per ITEP rule, the application (by the two companies) is deemed approved by the council.”

Cheng added the council has until Jan. 31 to petition the board to re-consider the approval and have that request placed on the Feb. 21 agenda. In a letter dated Jan. 28 that was also obtained by L’OBSERVATEUR, council chairman Lennix Madere asked the board to be placed on its Feb. 21 agenda and contended the information in question was sent in a timely fashion.

Madere said he received a phone call informing him there was a “little problem” regarding the missing information.

“We have been in the process of trying to find out what happened, where did the information go,” he said. “We have not been able to figure that out.”

Multiple sources indicated that the problem appeared to originate from the council staff, and that the info was not mailed in time to meet the LED deadline.

“I was disappointed,” he said. “We can’t discuss personnel. We don’t know what happened. It’s the only update I can give you.”

News of the application snafu spread quickly through the community, and many of the same residents who spoke in favor of denying the option at the Nov. 26 meeting once again spoke out Tuesday. One frustrated resident even asked why an appeal to the LED was necessary.

Another said she thought the unanimous November vote “was an early Christmas present.” Now she found out it may not take place.

“We did our job. It’s up to (the council) to go through the process and make the taxpayers happy,” she said.

Shondrell Perrilloux urged the council to find out who was responsible for what appears to be an oversight and to reveal what action will be taken.

“That individual needs to be held accountable,” she said.
“We need to make sure something like this does not happen again. Industry has a great role in economic development, but we elected you to serve us.”

Madere said he believes the parish has a “99.9 percent” chance the item will be placed on the agenda.

“We will give it a shot,” councilwoman Tammy Houston said. “We have not had confirmation the appeal will be granted but (an LED official) was encouraging.”

During the November meeting, it was believed denying Nalco an exemption on a new piece of equipment would add about $90,000 annually to the parish coffers for the 10-year life of the exemption. Marathon’s numbers were not as clear but some council members admitted the original numbers might be a bit overestimated, especially when considering depreciation on equipment.

Following the November vote, Nalco plant manager Jim Kulesa said the council’s action could result in other plants reconsidering expansion of their facilities in the parish.

In other action, council members approved a conditional use permit on a portion of Woodland Plantation that paves the way to establishing a museum honoring renowned trombone player Kid Ory.

John McCusker, Ory’s biographer, said he has partnered with the plantation’s owner to set up the museum.

From 1912-1919 Ory, who was born at Woodland, led what many considered to be one of the greatest bands in New Orleans history, made up of several future great musicians, most notably Louis Armstrong.

– written by Richard Meek, contributing writer