After a briefing by Louisiana State Representative Chris Turner (LA House District 12), the Lincoln Parish Police Jury last night tabled a resolution that would have put the jury on record opposing any legislation that would allow the Louisiana Department of Revenue to administer and collect local sales and use taxes.
Recently, some lawmakers have indicated that centralized collection was a major goal for the upcoming fiscal session of the legislature. Business advocates have said that companies that operate across multiple parishes find it cumbersome dealing with the many local tax collection agencies.
Changing the existing setup with a constitutional amendment would require a 2/3 vote of both the House and Senate, and approval of the state’s voters.
Turner said the proposals are still in draft form and have not yet been presented in bill form. He also said the collections would still be done locally, despite what had been said earlier.
Said Turner, “It’s still a draft, not a bill. We’re trying to capture all these sales taxes we’re missing. We’re not replacing anyone locally. There’s words that’s being worked out (collection and administration) in a bill right now, and it’s going to be a tough fight.”
Turner went on to say that much of the effort would be directed toward collecting sales taxes from internet purchases that local entities may be missing.
District Eight’s Skip Russel (who has been the LPPJ representative on the local tax commission for many years) noted that the local collection agency costs about 0.5% of revenue to collect taxes. He asked Turner what the state would charge to do job.
Replied Turner, “We’re still looking at that – there’s this number of 5% that’s jumping around.”
Turner said that Louisiana House Speaker Clay Schexnayder would be amenable to setting up a conference call to hear juror’s concerns.
Local tax administrator Denise Griggs spoke up to say that Lincoln Parish had been collecting online sales tax monies since the summer of 2020.
The vote to table the resolution was unanimous, but it was clear that jurors were very interested in the issue and would be discussing any proposed legislation with legislative leadership.
Earlier in the evening, the jury’s Personnel & Benefits Committee adopted a revised policy on board and commission appointments. The full jury ratified the committee’s decision.
Also, the jury called a public hearing for the April 13 meeting to hear input regarding an October library tax election.
