Paramount : Ballot Measure Considered
In a rare Friday morning meeting, the Paramount City Council is expected to vote on whether to place a measure on the municipal ballot asking for a business license tax on the city’s lone petroleum refinery.
Friday is the deadline for placing measures on the April 12 ballot. The meeting is scheduled for 7:30 a.m.
The council has discussed charging a tax of 25 cents per barrel on products produced by the Paramount Petroleum Refinery. Paramount Petroleum, which for several years has been undergoing reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code, is located on about 60 acres at Lakewood and Somerset boulevards.
If the tax is enacted, it could raise as much as $2.7 million yearly in city revenue, City Manager William Holt said. However, Holt said the council may consider imposing a lesser tax than 25 cents per barrel.
Money raised by the tax would be used to help finance a possible sheriff’s substation and a satellite Municipal Court in the city. Staff reports have been presented on both proposals but the council has not voted on either of them.
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