1st quarter tax revenue growth at 13%

For the 12th consecutive month, sales and use tax collections for St. Mary Parish have increased over the previous year, according to figures released by the parish.
The Sales and Use Tax Department report of the 4 percent parish tax collection showed $3.23 million was collected in March, which is 5.1 percent more than March 2013. Through the first quarter of the year, tax collections have increased by 13 percent over last year, Jeffrey LaGrange, Sales and Use Tax Department director, said.
“I believe we will continue to see similar increases throughout the year,” LaGrange said. “Input from business has been positive and (I am) optimistic for a banner year.”
After starting the year with a meteoric 21.8 percent rise, followed by a 10 percent increase over the previous year for February, the March numbers cooled down to a level closer to the budgeted growth of 7 percent.
Any single month can see variations up or down, so monthly reports do not paint as accurate a picture of the economy as quarterly reports, LaGrange said.
Since the first quarter of 2012, the parish tax collections have increased quarterly eight out of nine times with monthly increases occurring 24 out of 27 times, according to an analysis provided by LaGrange. The last quarter to experience a drop was the first quarter of last year when collections were down in January and March.
LaGrange’s optimism increases after comparing St. Mary Parish’s tax collection growth to surrounding parishes.
“We seem to be doing better than our neighboring parishes who are seeing growth but not as much as ours in regards to tax collection increases,” LaGrange said.
Morgan City’s 0.3 percent sales tax for roads collected $71,505 in March which brought the first-quarter total to $267,584.
Two audit examinations yielded $113,172 in tax collection for March, bringing the first-quarter total by audit to $457,556.
The tax department keeps 5 percent of collections to operate the department before the remainder is distributed to city and town governments, the parish, sheriff and school board.
Through the first quarter of the year, the following distributions of $10,330,620 from sales and use tax have been made:
St. Mary Parish School Board, $4,887,003; Parish Council, $1,635,771; sheriff, $697,833; Morgan City, $1,204,581; Patterson, $501,561; Berwick, $443,043; Franklin, $751,525; and Baldwin, $209,302.
March’s collection of the 4 percent tax on hotels was $58,018, which was up 2.5 percent from last year, LaGrange said.
The March collection for occupational licenses, with totals for the first quarter in parentheses, was as follows:
St. Mary Parish, $115,870 ($515,975); Morgan City, $113,688, ($636,102); Patterson, $7,835 ($83,547); Berwick, $20,923 ($120,412); Franklin, $27,968 ($132,183); and Baldwin, $5,199 ($33,140).
The tax department has nearly a million dollars in escrow for taxes that have been paid under protest. Last month one of the appealed cases was heard in district court with the assessment confirmed by district court, but the decision continues to be appealed, LaGrange said. That case involves more than $300,000 of the $859,757 in the protest escrow fund.