Published: April 15, 2009 10:10 pm      

Raceland payroll tax criticized

1 percent to hit teachers, railroad workers, small business owners

RACELAND — Those who work in Raceland say the city’s elected leaders have practically committed a crime by adopting a 1 percent payroll tax.

“We don’t care to help out, but it shouldn’t be put on just the railroad and the schools,” said Ron Knight as he watched a crowd of more than 100 march toward the city’s community building Tuesday evening.

Knight, one of about 200 who work railroad-related jobs in Raceland, said it seems unfair CSX employees will have to pay approximately $88 per month and $53 to $54 per month for Progress rail employees when others with similar jobs in nearby Huntington “are throwing a fit at $8 a month.”

Woody Lane, spokesman for most of the railroad workers at Tuesday’s meeting, said the payroll tax will put a hardship on the city’s families and school system.

“The only thing that would satisfy us is zero percent,” Lane said before the city council called the meeting to order. Lane said the payroll tax holds the potential to “destroy Progress Rail,” in Raceland.

Zenida Smith, who teaches Spanish at Raceland-Worthington High School, said the city’s payroll tax will have an immediate impact on local education. Most teachers spend their own money to buy materials for their students, Smith said, and the payroll tax will disable that practice. As proposed before adoption, the city’s payroll tax would take $946 from her check each year, she said.

“I know we have challenges but we have to pull together,” Smith said, citing the definition of community. “We need to work together.”

Smith said a 1 percent payroll tax simply opens the path for further payroll tax increases as city officials face future financial challenges. She also questioned the city’s lack of vision and failure to say what the new tax money will be used for. Emphasizing her appreciation for the city’s police department, as well as other employees, Smith said city leaders should consider alternate ways of generating revenue, possibly a flat fee for vehicle identification stickers.

During a brief discussion about the proposed tax before the council’s vote, another school employee asked officials if they had considered the effect of the payroll tax on student success, and cited the high school as one of the city’s primary sources of identity.

Raceland business owner Joy Conley, who also works for the city of Russell, said she made multiple attempts to work with the city of Raceland regarding revenue and budget concerns. Conley said she was eventually able to access some city records, but was ultimately treated rudely by Mayor Don McKee and essentially ejected with a two-minute warning.

“He just started screaming at me,” Conley said of the mayor’s behavior during her attempt to help the city.

With up to 25 minimum-wage workers at her business, Conley said the payroll tax will be painful for her employees.

“It’s going to hurt them hard,” she said.

Jujuana Hieneman, an employee at the recently opened Corner Cone restaurant, said owner Jeff Carr has recently invested more of his own money to extend their hours to better accommodate the city’s railroad employees.

“This will hurt us,” Hieneman said, while talking to business owner Carla Miller about a proposed boycott of businesses in Raceland in response to the payroll tax. Miller said she spoke with a railroad worker that evening who told her he would no longer be spending any money at her pool business.

“I think it’s awful,” said Teresa Smith, who lives directly behind the city building in Raceland and carried a “No Taxation” sign. Smith said the city does have problems which need to be addressed, specifically the quality of water in the city’s older pipes.