$7.75 ‘Parcel’ fee on Nov. 3 ballot; would generate new revenue stream to support Economic Development in Vermilion Parish

When you spend $7.75 on a meal at a fast food restaurant for lunch, you are helping the local economy.
There’s a chance that same $7.75 can be used to further economic development for all of Vermilion Parish.
On the Nov. 3 ballot, voters in Vermilion Parish will have an opportunity to decide on a parcel fee for the Vermilion Economic Development District (“Alliance” or VEDA). Anne Falgout, VEDA executive director, attended meetings this past month, including Delcambre, Erath, Abbeville, Gueydan, Maurice and the Abbeville Rotary, to provide details on the proposition.
“VEDA is placing a parcel fee proposition on the ballot with the purpose of increasing economic development activity in the parish,” Falgout said. “All voters will have the opportunity to weigh in on this.”
If passed, VEDA would collect an annual parcel fee of $7.75 on all the property subject to taxation in Vermilion Parish. That would be for a period of 10 years, beginning in 2021 and ending in ‘30. The parcel fee would generate more than $230,000 annually.
“Funds generated would not only sustain our professional organization,” Falgout said, “but it would help our existing business community and help create new companies and attract job opportunities, businesses and industry to Vermilion Parish.”
A ‘parcel’ is “one or more lots, subdivided portions of ground, or individual tracts of taxable property identified by an individual assessment number on Vermilion Parish’s tax rolls.” This will not generate a tax bill if you are not currently receiving one. Properties whose values fall under the Homestead Exemption will also not be subject to the fee.
“There are more 30,000 taxable parcels that are in the parish right now,” Falgout said.
With the current 30,508 taxable parcels in the parish, the parcel fee would generate $236,438 annually.
Upon its inception in ‘14, VEDA relied on contributions from public entities as from business and private groups. There are currently a few entities in the parish that contribute various amounts to VEDA’s budget, including the Vermilion Parish Police Jury, the Vermilion Parish School System, the Town of Erath, the City of Kaplan, the Town of Gueydan the Village of Maurice and the Vermilion Chamber of Commerce. The City of Abbeville, the Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office and Abbeville Harbor and Terminal contributed for the in the past also.
“This would allow us not to have to rely on public agencies,” Falgout said,” who need funding for other priorities like roads, police and fire protection and utility infrastructure.”
“This would allow us to be self-sufficient.”
It would also not target businesses.
“This fee will not affect business inventory, machinery or equipment,” Falgout said.
This fee will not burden farmers, either.
“Unlike a property tax,” Falgout said, “the fee charged is not based on the value or size of the land owned.”
If individual tracts are grouped together, and given the same assessment number, only one parcel fee will be levied.
“Many parishes in Louisiana have a millage (property tax) or sales tax,” Falgout said of how other areas fund economic development. “Others are funded by their parish government or compete with charitable organizations for private dollars.”
“This would be the first economic development parcel fee in Louisiana.”
This year has proven to be an extremely tough one for businesses. Falgout said VEDA has worked with hundreds of businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, helping to guide owners through the process of seeking available loans and funds.
“When we had the Louisiana Recovery Grant Program,” Falgout said, “we reached out to over 500 businesses in three days. We helped 147 companies get the application information to apply for that grant. The ones that were approved got up to $15,000.
“Helping those existing 147 businesses is as valuable as bringing in a new business. But we would like to dedicate more resources in the business recruitment space, it’s just expensive to compete. This fee will help us market Vermilion to those companies looking to expand to the Gulf Coast.”
Falgout said that business retention, expansion, and recruitment will remain the focus, for not only now, but the future. She said the parcel fee will provide a tremendous boost in the effort to promote and grow the parish.