Maurice sales tax up in January

MAURICE — Like most other areas, the Village of Maurice has seen its sales tax number decline for several months.
The downturn in the oil and gas industry has been a key factor in that dwindling sales tax numbers. Maurice Mayor Wayne Theriot announced January’s sales tax report during Wednesday’s regular Board of Aldermen meeting.
“We have some good news,” Theriot said. “Our sales tax was actually up about seven percent.
“That is a good sign and we hope that continues.”
Other entities in Vermilion Parish saw a drop in numbers.
The Vermilion Parish School Board collected $507,144.43 for its 1-percent tax. That is down 14.6 percent from the $594,014.60 generated in January of 2015.
The Vermilion Parish Police Jury experienced a 14.6 percent decrease, going from $891,022.80 in January of ‘15, to $760,717.37 this year.
The Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office matched the 14.6 decrease. The office brought in $380,358.65 this year, compared to $445,511.67 last year.
The City of Abbeville decreased seven percent in January. The city collected $250,667.52 this year, down from the $270,739.26 brought in during the same time last year.
The Town of Gueydan felt a deficit of 4.6 percent, dropping from $12,869.90 to $12,278.25.
The City of Kaplan fell 14 percent, from $54,003.82 to $46,434.56.
The Town of Erath was down 11.4 percent. The town generated $20,329.69 last year, $2,322.75 more than this January.
The Town of Delcambre brought in $11,895.52 in January. That is down 18 percent from the $14,513.02 collected last year.
Theriot attributes some recent business growth to Maurice’s spike.
“We are extremely fortunate that we had a couple of new businesses come in,” Theriot said. “That is good for both us and the parish.
“We are going to continue to encourage our citizens and others to support all of our businesses.”
Theriot is grateful that Maurice did see an increase. However, he said the village will continue to operate in a conservative manner.
“We are still going to be aware of the economic situation,” Theriot said. “We are going to be very conservative in our expenses. We will continue to look at everything.”
The timing of the increase is also right for Maurice. Half of the 1975 sales tax will now be deposited into the newly created capital improvement fund. Voters passed the rededication last October that allows the village to now collect half of the ‘75 sales tax for capital improvements and the other half for the water and sewer fund.
“This is the first payment going into the capital improvement fund,” Theriot said. “We have right around $17,000 that is going into capital improvements.”
That allows the village to focus on some projects in the coming months.
“In a couple of months we will be looking at some things that we can do,” Theriot said. “I have had a conversation with our Police Juror (Dane Hebert) about some projects.
“Working in conjunction with the police jury may give us a better price.”
Village officials will continue to be patient with the fund.
“It is going to be about a year before we can do anything major,” Theriot said. “If we continue to bring in $15,000 to $17,000 a month, it will add up real quick.
“That is a tremendous asset for us to look at some long-range projects.”