Seal: Court ruling saves taxpayers $1 million

By Jacob Brooks
The Daily News
Published/Last Modified on Friday, February 5, 2010 9:20 AM CST


Washington Parish will not have to pay nearly $1 million in tax refunds to a natural gas pipeline company, Washington Parish Tax Assessor Randy Seal announced Wednesday.

“The Louisiana Supreme Court has denied a request by Florida Gas Transmission Company that it overturn a ruling by 22nd Judicial District Court Judge Peter Garcia,” according to a statement from Seal. “As a result of this ruling, Washington Parish will not have to pay almost $1 million in refunds sought by Florida Gas.”

Seal said his office was informed of the court’s decision last Friday, and it capped a 10-year litigation battle.

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The suit originated when a Baton Rouge district judge ruled that the Louisiana Tax Commission had violated Florida Gas’ right to uniform taxation and ordered that its property in Washington Parish be reassessed by Seal’s office, according to Seal.

Florida Gas was entitled to some refunds, but the pipeline company claimed that Seal had improperly valued its property and was due an additional $971,308.42, according to Seal’s statement.

The Louisiana Tax Commission ruled that Florida Gas was entitled to the full refund, but that decision was later overturned when Seal appealed to the 22nd Judicial District Court.

“That ruling was later affirmed by the First Circuit Court of Appeal in Baton Rouge,” according to Seal’s statement. “When the Supreme Court refused to hear the case, the assessor’s values became final.”

Seal, who came in to The Daily News Wednesday to make the statement, said the ruling helps protect the taxpayers’ money.

“I was confident that my valuations were correct and that no further refunds were owed to Florida Gas,” he said. “My staff and I put a great deal of work into ensuring that every assessment issued by my office is fair and equitable to all taxpayers … and I don’t think that Florida Gas or any other taxpayer should have to pay one penny more than they owe in taxes. But I was not willing to allow a large, out-of-state corporation to bully Washington Parish into giving them a million-dollar refund they clearly were not entitled to.”

Added Seal: “These are monies for our schools, roads and bridges, law enforcement, fire protection, library and local government services.”

 

Copyright © 2010 Daily News

Comments

    Reader Comments

    The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of downtownnews.com.

    Edmond Chandler wrote on Feb 5, 2010 3:03 PM:

    " Thank you, Washington Parish Tax Assessor, Randy Seal, this is indeed good news and good for Washington Parish and my city of Bogalusa. This is a MAJOR saving of our limited resources.

    YOU are a good man, and you make a "mean cup of coffee", too. KEEP UP THE GOOD JOB, Randy.

    Ed Chandler
    Retired Senior Citizen
    Bogalusa "

    r wrote on Feb 6, 2010 7:13 AM:

    " would someone please run against the Mary Landrieu loving good ole boy? "

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Thank you for your comments!

Reader Comments

The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of downtownnews.com.

Edmond Chandler wrote on Feb 5, 2010 3:03 PM:

" Thank you, Washington Parish Tax Assessor, Randy Seal, this is indeed good news and good for Washington Parish and my city of Bogalusa. This is a MAJOR saving of our limited resources.

YOU are a good man, and you make a "mean cup of coffee", too. KEEP UP THE GOOD JOB, Randy.

Ed Chandler
Retired Senior Citizen
Bogalusa "

r wrote on Feb 6, 2010 7:13 AM:

" would someone please run against the Mary Landrieu loving good ole boy? "

Submit a Comment

We encourage your feedback and dialogue. All comments will be reviewed by our Web staff before appearing on the Web site.
(optional)
   

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Cold weather from an arctic blast continued to chill Washington Parish Friday, Jan. 8, with temperatures in the 20s. The night low was expected to be about 15 degrees. Schools were also closed on Friday.


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