School Board rejects attempt to reclaim decision-making on tax exemptions

CENTERVILLE – The St. Mary Parish School Board will continue to rely on Parish President David Hanagriff for decisions about industrial tax exemptions.
A resolution reclaiming that power for the School Board failed to draw enough support for passage at Thursday’s monthly meeting.
The resolution debate centered on the Louisiana Industrial Tax Exemption Program, which allows a new or expanding industry to apply for an 80% exemption from local property taxes on the new facilities for five years, with an option for another five years.
The program’s rules were changed beginning in 2016 to give affected local governments power to say yes or no to exemption requests. In 2018, Hanagriff received permission from the parish’s governmental entities, including the School Board, to make the decision on exemption applications himself, provided an economic analysis showed a positive benefit.
He said the streamlined process would be more attractive to potential employers.
If the analysis shows a negative impact, individual governments that would tax the new facility would still have to be consulted.
That was the case when Metal Shark applied last fall for a tax exemption for a modest expansion with what Hanagriff described as a slight negative impact. Although Franklin, the Sheriff’s Office and Hanagriff acting on the parish government’s behalf OK’d the application, the School Board voted against it at its Dec. 9 meeting.
Members pointed to the application’s claim that only two new jobs with a payroll of about $73,000 would be created. Metal Shark would have saved about $42,000 in School Board property taxes over the 10 years.
But what neither the parish administration nor the School Board seemed to know was that a deadline had passed. Metal Shark received state Board of Commerce and Industry approval for its exemption application Oct. 27. The School Board then had 30 days to make a decision or seek a 30-day extension. By the time the School Board rejected the application Dec. 9, the 30 days had elapsed and Louisiana Economic Development had ruled that the application was approved.
Parish Economic Development Director Evan Boudreaux later said it was up to the School Board to know about the deadline. But School Board President Kenny Alfred pointed to emails between Boudreaux and Superintendent Dr. Teresa Bagwell agreeing on the difficulty of preparing a presentation for the board in time for the Nov. 11 meeting. They talked about preparing for a Dec. 9 vote, which was after the 30-day deadline.
On Thursday, Alfred spoke in favor of the resolution that would have ended the agreement under which Hanagriff is allowed to make exemption decisions on the School Board’s behalf.
Alfred noted that since April 2018, two exemption requests have come before the board – by Metal Shark and, in 2020, by Bollinger. Bollinger was approved for an exemption from about $85,000 in taxes.
“Both are expensive …,” Alfred said. “We feel like every request is rubber-stamped by the parish whether we like it or not.”
The fact that the exemption was approved despite the School Board denial “caused bad feelings and could have been avoided,” Alfred said.
But Hanagriff said the system worked as it was designed to work because the School Board had its say.
And because the tax exemption only applies to new facilities, “you’re not giving up anything,” he said. “You’re just not getting as much more.”
The new 0.45% sales tax for teacher and staff pay raises already took away an advantage St. Mary had over nearby parishes when it comes to economic development, Hanagriff said.
His idea for streamlining the application process came as “we wanted to try something different, because we have to do something different.”
Hanagriff said he could guarantee that the Metal Shark expansion would create more than two jobs. But the company must estimate that number conservatively because it would have to pay back the taxes from which it was exempted if it failed to meet the goal, he said.
And Metal Shark has been subject to bad publicity because of the exemption debate, he said.
“It’s almost insane to be talking about this in a public venue,” Hanagriff said.
The vote on the resolution to reclaim decision-making authority was 5-5, so it failed for lack of a majority. One member of the 11-member board, Wayne Deslatte, was absent.
Voting yes were Alfred, Ginger Griffin, Marilyn LaSalle, Michael Taylor and Roland Verret. Voting no were Joseph Foulcard, Tammie Moore, Pearl Rack, Alaina Black and Dwight Barbier.
Also at Thursday’s meeting:
---Alfred appointed Griffin, Moore, Black and Rack to a committee to develop a new instrument for use in evaluating the superintendent.
--The board recognized achievements by students and staff member.
The 2022 parish Students of the Year are Bayou Vista Elementary fifth-grader Lynkon Kitchen; Berwick Junior High eighth-grader Jude Tarver; and Patterson High senior Alyssa Perkins.
Victoria Nguyen of Berwick High was praised for winning the LHSAA poster contest. Her work appeared on the cover of the football championships program in December. Her work was selected from among more than 100 entries. Nguyen is the fifth consecutive poster contest winner from Berwick High.
The Students of the Month are Lynkon Kitchen; Centerville Junior High eighth-grader Jameon Francis; and Morgan City High senior Luis Gonzaelez.
The Employees of the Month are Bayou Vista Elementary physical education and art teacher Cynthia Chaisson, who will be retiring soon; Centerville Junior High resource paraprofessional Sherald Butler; and Morgan City High head custodian Terry Singleton.
--Board members and administrators wore red lapel ribbons Thursday in recognition of National Heart Health Awareness Month. The ribbons were also worn in memory of longtime executive assistant Diana Daye of Sorrel, who died of heart disease Jan. 28.
She was among the recently deceased School Board staffers remembered in resolutions of respect, including Assistant Superintendent Robert Ayres; cafeteria technician Shirley Connor; teacher Velta Firmin; bus driver Robert McCurtis Jr.; federal programs supervisor Michael Moncriffe; bus driver Huey Perez; bus driver Sue Rodriguez; and bus driver Gail Sanders.