Lake Charles area industrial owners paid $81 million in property taxes

Citgo refinery, Lake Charles

Southwest Louisiana industrial owners paid about $81 million in property taxes in 2022, reports KPLC News. In fact, nine of the top 11 taxpayers in the region were from the industrial sector, says Jim Rock, executive director for the Lake Area Industry Alliance (LAIA).

The LAIA releases the yearly amount of property taxes paid by industries in Calcasieu Parish. Those figures are obtained from the Calcasieu Assessor’s Office.

The tax revenue was mostly divided among several local entities, with about $10 million to the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office, about $20 million to the Calcasieu Parish School Board, and over $50 million to parish taxing districts including the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury.

The data also shows that in 2022 local industries paid over $1.2 billion in salaries to direct employees, and donated over $200,000 to the SOWELA Foundation. One local company has donated more than $200,000 to the McNeese State University engineering department over a five-year period for enhancing engineering education. Read the entire story.