By Rupert Howell

Panola County supervisors last week granted GE Aviation a request to go to a “Fee-In-Lieu” of taxes that may reduce the payment of South Panola school taxes by an estimated $289,782—money that will have to come from other taxable property.

That tax-in-lieu status would allow the company to pay approximately one-third of assessed taxes over a period of 10 years.

The company had been paying taxes on a valuation of $69 million until it reached the $100 million threshold in 2013 with recent additions and improvements.

Bill Hathaway and other representatives of GE met with supervisors and had previously agreed to pay a shortage between the debt payment on a power sub-station built by TVEPA to serve that industry and the payment in lieu of taxes.

GE has  now met conditions of investing $100 million or more that allows the request for the payment in lieu of taxes Hathaway explained, stating that actually $113 million had been invested at the facility on Highway 6 East.

In the past, GE has paid South Panola School and Northwest Community College taxes and given the county funds to make the debt payment on the substation as agreed in a memorandum of understanding in 2010.

The City of Batesville will receive approximately $140,000 in lieu tax. In the past, the county and city were exempt from receiving any taxes from GE according to a memorandum attached to the June 9 meeting’s agenda.

School officials begin budget meetings this month for the upcoming school year. The South Panola District was dealt a financial blow when a local power plant was sold in bankruptcy court to South Mississippi Electric Power Association. A rural power distributor, SMEPA is exempt from county property tax, a facility then valued at over $200 million.

School districts are limited to 55 mills that can be assessed against property to raise taxes for the district maintenance fund. Both North and South Panola Schools are at or near that number for the current school year.