BOBBY ARDOIN Editor/Consulting Writer
Parishwide sales tax revenues during the last nine months are trending upward, according to a bi-monthly report approved last week by the St. Landry Sales Tax and Use Commission.
Meanwhile, Commission members also agreed during the same meeting to obtain an opinion from the State Attorney General to ascertain how the Commission should proceed in collecting delinquent sales taxes from businesses.
Parish tax administrator Idasha Dartez told the Commission that February and March parishwide sales taxes were up 6.62 percent over the same period in 2022-23.
Third quarter figures from July-March indicate sales taxes in St. Landry totaled $56,159,075 for an 8.41 percent increase.
“We are collecting way more now than we have (recently) collected,” Dartez explained to the Commission.
Last year during the identical period, St. Landry reported sales taxes were $51.8 million, Dartez reported.
Dartez based her robust sales tax assessment on the number of new businesses that have submitted applications. “We have handled eight applications recently. In Eunice there have been a number of new restaurants which have started,” said Dartez.
Which Businesses Are Paying?
A chart presented to the Commission shows a combined 30 percent of the parishwide sales tax proceeds were paid by government and transportation and retail and variety stores.
Among the other top 10 sales tax dealers were remote sellers distributions (6 percent), solar power from the LightSource BP project (6 percent), retail and grocery stores (4.5 percent), petroleum refineries (4 percent), retail home stores (3.5 percent), discount retail variety stores (3 percent), online variety stores (1 percent) and farm equipment sales (1 percent).
The top 10 tax dealers parishwide contributed approximately $33,05 million of $56.159 total in 2023-24, according to the report.
Dartez informed the Commission that state lawmakers have been attempting during the last three regular legislative sessions to abandon sales tax collections on food products.
St. Landry, Dartez estimated, could lose about $3 million annually if lawmakers decide to rescind food taxes.
Some Businesses Are Avoiding Taxes
The decision to ask for a State AG opinion regarding the collection of delinquent taxes will help the Commission formulate a plan on how to proceed legally, said Dartez.
Dartez noted that five parish businesses which she did not identify are currently non-compliant for paying their sales taxes.
Judges are not allowed to provide the Commission with legal advice on how to handle the non-compliance matters , Dartez said.
“If these businesses who are not paying don’t cease their operations, what can I do? How can (the Commission) enforce compliance?” Dartez asked.
From July, 2022 until March, 2023, the Commission collected $147,218.60 in parishwide delinquent sales taxes, according to a report presented by Dartez.
Dartez is estimating that delinquent collections from July, 2023 through January of 2024 are $88,898.95 or down 40 percent.
