7 county manufacturers win exemptions on taxes

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, June 23, 2004

[6/22/04]Exemptions from county property taxes were approved for seven manufacturers when the Warren County Board of Supervisors met Monday.

By granting the exemptions, the county will forego $300,000 in revenue on $40 million of new investment by the manufacturers.

The companies will continue to pay school and state taxes. Mississippi law does not allow state and school taxes to be exempted.

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The companies also pay a combined amount of $2.5 million in ad valorem taxes and employ 2,500 workers.

Supervisors say the exemptions are an investment.

“If we can increase payroll in this community, we grow the economy,” said District 3 Supervisor Charles Selmon, board president.

The exemptions also keep employers here.

“We have to compete against other communities,” said District 1 Supervisor David McDonald.

The exemptions affect capital investments. International Paper, which operates a mill at Redwood, received the largest exemption, citing $21 million in new property. The company employs 340 workers at its Warren County plant.

“Paper mills, just by their nature, are very capital-intensive operations,” said Paul Banchetti, chief project engineer for the company.

Banchetti said the company puts $94 million into the local economy through payroll and payments to local suppliers. Documents given to the board listed International Paper’s annual payroll at $26.4 million.

The next-largest exemption, $14 million, was requested by Yorozu Automotive. The company is a supplier to Nissan’s Canton plant and General Motors’ Shreveport, La., plant.

The company employs 302 people at Ceres Industrial Interplex, and the estimated annual payroll is $8 million, says a document given to the board.

Other exemptions were given to LeTourneau, Cooper Lighting, Batesville Casket, Simpson DuraVent and Graham Packaging. All of those exemptions were for less than the $1.6 million worth of new investment.

In other business Monday, the board:

Agreed to authorize legal action against Joey Nance, 642 N. Woodland Drive, Forest, because an addition to a house on Shell Beach Road at Eagle Lake owned by Nance does not meet flood control requirements.

Nance blames his contractor and surveyor for not meeting specifications required by federal flood control authorities and said his attorney advised him to get a court order from the board, then sue the contractor and surveyor, county documents show.

Approved a selling price of 55 cents per pound for several hundred pounds of scrap aluminum to Keyes Recycling.

The board accepted bids of $123,629 from Puckett Machinery for a wheel loader; $11,450 each for two thermal imaging cameras from Delta Uniform and Supply for the volunteer fire departments; and $97,283 for a Ford F70 fire truck pumper/tanker unit from Deep South Truck Equipment and Sales. The county will also sell Deep South a 1979 Ford truck for $4,000.