Mar-Jac Poultry has agreed to a new wastewater rate structure with the City of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, which has been approved by the city council.
At the same meeting, held on January 16, the city council granted the poultry company an ad valoreum tax exemption to run for no longer than 10 years.
Wastewater rates
Mar-Jac Poultry had already been under a contract for a special rate for wastewater services, but that contract was based on the number of chickens that were processed at the Hattiesburg facility, rather than the amount of water that was discharged, reported Hub City Spokes.
Mayor Toby Barker said Mar-Jac has worked hard to reduce the amount of discharged water, but he added that it the company was charged the standard wastewater fees that other utility customers do, “it would probably put them out of business.”
Under the new agreement, Mar-Jac Poultry will pay $1.36 per thousand gallons for 2018. That rate will increase by 50 cents in 2019 and another 50 cents in 2020. After that, the rates will again be negotiated.
Tax exemption
The City Council unanimously approved a resolution at the meeting that would grant and allow an ad valorem tax exemption to Mar-Jac Poultry for no longer than 10 years. The period began at the conclusion of December 2017 and is scheduled to end on December 31, 2026, with a true total value of $2,913.838.50, or the amount approved by the Mississippi Department of Revenue.
The exemption approved by the city council does not include state and school district ad valorem taxes.
