Cement firm's tax cut chops into schools' budget

CLARKSVILLE, Mo. -- Pike County's biggest taxpayer has won a 78-percent tax cut for its cement plant, raising concerns about the potential fallout on schools, a hospital and other agencies that rely on the revenue.

Holcim Inc.'s lowered tax bill, which goes from more than $900,000 to about $200,000 for its 35-year-old cement plant and quarry near here, is being appealed by Pike County.

"Holcim represents one-half of our school district's local tax base," said Paul Wootten, the Pike County R-III School District's superintendent. "When one-half gets a 70 percent reduction, it sends your district reeling."

In the meantime, some people here suspect Holcim plans to close the plant after completing a planned new one in northern Ste. Genevieve County. Holcim says it has no plans to shutter the 194-worker local plant, about 75 miles north of St. Louis.

Payroll, raw materials and taxes are the plant's three biggest expenses, plant manager Mike Ayers said. In April, Holcim successfully challenged the county's assessments before the state Tax Commission.

"We need to maintain a strong competitive position," Ayers said. "In part, that means we be taxed in a fair manner."

A commission hearing officer issued the decision, and Pike County has appealed it to the full three-member commission. A hearing on the appeal has been postponed while settlement talks take place between the county and Holcim.

Plans for new plant

If the new plant planned at the Ste. Genevieve County-Jefferson County line, about 61 miles north of Cape Girardeau, clears environmental hurdles and gets built, its capacity will be the nation's largest, and more than twice that of the Clarksville plant.

Ste. Genevieve County officials have offered Holcim property tax abatements of $97 million as an economic development incentive. Instead of property tax payments, Holcim would pay the county $49 million over 20 years, about two-thirds less than what its property tax bill would be.

Mikel Stewart, superintendent of the Ste. Genevieve R-II School District, said it was a good deal because the schools would get $35 million in new money to pay for teachers, books and school construction.

"Holcim has already shown its involvement in the community through numerous activities, and we very much look forward to it becoming a permanent part of our community," Stewart said.

People in Pike County once thought that way about Holcim.

'Shift in attitude'

"They were a major contributor to the county," said Greg Reed, administrator of the 45-bed Pike County Memorial Hospital in Louisiana, Mo. "There is a whole new administration now. They don't seem interested in the United Way or the Chamber of Commerce. I'm disappointed with the shift in attitude."

Reed said the cut in Holcim's assessment would pare the hospital's income by $40,000 to $50,000 a year. Now, the hospital gets about $180,000 from the county.

Taking the biggest hit: the 600-student Pike County R-III School District, whose share of property tax money from Holcim would be trimmed to $146,000 from $648,000, Wootten said.

Missouri's School Foundation program, which provides state money to public schools, will make up about $400,000 of the shortfall. But because the Legislature appropriated a finite amount of money for the foundation program, it means there will be $400,000 less in the program to spread to other districts in the state.

"No one here expects anyone to pay more than their fair share, but they do expect them to pay their fair share," Wootten said. "A seventy percent reduction in taxes is not their fair share."

Until 1999, Holcim had been paying an annual property tax of $695,666. After the plant built a new dome to cover a cement pile, the county reassessed the plant's real estate and equipment. Holcim's new tax bill became $922,899.

"We felt it was unfair, and we appealed," said Ayers, the plant manager.