La.’s Ouachita Parish to Get 2005 State Farm Taxes

An agreement approved by the Louisiana Tax Commission sends almost $2 million in State Farm Insurance property taxes to Ouachita Parish, where officials had feared budget cuts if the money stayed in Baton Rouge.

State Farm announced in 2004 it was moving operations out of Monroe. The dispute was whether 2005 taxes on premiums should go to Ouachita or East Baton Rouge Parish.

Ouachita officials met for several hours with State Farm officials and won approval from the Tax Commission of an agreement that said the money should go to Ouachita.

Police Jury President Kim Golden said loss of the money would have affected parish services.

“If this had not been approved, our people in the parish would have felt it immediately in their everyday lives,” Golden said.

Monroe City School System Superintendent James Dupree said the loss of the schools’ $730,000 would have “forced us to make cutbacks” and since most of the board’s budget is for salaries, it could have meant personnel reductions or pay cuts.