Paramount : Refinery Tax Put on Ballot

The Paramount City Council has voted unanimously to place a measure on the April 12 municipal ballot asking for a business license tax on the city’s lone petroleum refinery.

The measure before voters asks that a tax of 6 cents per barrel be placed 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 enacted, the tax could generate as much as $650,000 a year in city revenue, officials said. The money 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.