Arkema hit with nearly tenfold increase after failing to reapply for exemption
After failing to reapply for a state-provided tax exemption, a local latex manufacturer is getting hit with a nearly tenfold property tax increase.
Although Arkema Inc. was granted a 10-year Industrial Tax Exemption by Louisiana Economic Development, they failed to renew the exemption this year and will see their assessed property value increase from $1.4 million in 2013 to more than $14 million. Their taxes will rise from $161,729 to more than $1.5 million annually, which is an increase of nearly $8 million over the lifetime of the remaining tax credit for which they were eligible.
Despite early opposition, Arkema dropped an appeal to the St. Charles Parish Council on the matter and the 2014 tax rolls were accepted as presented by Assessor Tab Troxler. The increase in assessment on Arkema is just one reason why St. Charles Parish’s property tax rolls rose $61 million over last year, but most of the increase is due to tax exempt industrial properties being taxable for the first time, according to Troxler.
“We are looking at a total tax base of $1.2 billion, so we are up from what we expected,” he said.
Troxler said he had no ill will towards Arkema, but it was his duty to collect property taxes from them despite their eligibility for the previously granted tax exemption.
“I wanted to make sure everything we did was based on professional practices or based on state law. That is what we have done through the entire roll,” he said. “That is the job of the assessor, we have 44,000 parcels and it is our job to go through that.”
As the years go on, Troxler anticipates more and more taxable property coming online in St. Charles Parish that will nearly quadruple property tax revenues.
“Basically we have $4.2 billion in industrial property taxes that are exempted – that is in addition to fair market value that could be taxed, but is not being taxed because that property is being sheltered under 10-year tax exemptions,” he said.
Industrial property that is currently being taxed has led to St. Charles Parish holding the eighth highest value in the state out of 64 parishes despite only being the 23rd most populous parish in the state. That means that St. Charles Parish has an advantage over other areas when is comes to per capita funding for schools and other government entities.
“I don’t think people realize that our value is better than Terrebonne. We are bigger than Alexandria in Rapides Parish,” Troxler said. “People think we are a small parish, but this kind of gives you an idea.”
While the parish is flush with property tax revenue, Troxler was quick to say that does not mean that money already being dedicated to certain parish entities, such as St. Charles Parish Hospital or local fire departments, is going up.
“What we’ve actually seen is the tax rates [for parish residents] have slowly declined. As the parish rises in value, the taxing authorities are able to levy less tax to meet the obligations they have,” he said.
Since taking over as assessor last year, Troxler said he has also been working to update the office’s technology and soon hopes to include a website database that will allow visitors to pull up information about any property in St. Charles Parish.
Be the first to comment