Allegations that Winn Parish Tax Assessor has improperly under-assessed forestlands formerly owned by Louisiana Pacific Corp. are not correct and have no merit, Assessor Bodie Little told The Piney Woods Journal.

Grady McFarland, who lives on the Packton-Alexandria road in Winn Parish south of Winnfield, appeared before the Winn Parish Police Jury at its February meeting to claim that Six-C Corporation of Lafayette, Louisiana, the current owners of approximately 31,600 acres of the former L-P forestland, is undercharged on Winn Parish property taxes by $351,800. This allegation is based on McFarland's claim that Six-C is not entitled to the forestland tax classification of $20 per acre, and instead should be assessed at 10 percent of its actual sale value, or $88.9 per acre.

Under the $20 per acre forestland value, Six -C was billed and paid $98,601 on its Winn Parish properties. According to McFarland's representation to the Police Jury, Six-C should have paid $450,410, or an increase of $351,800.

McFarland asked the Police Jury to request the Legislative Auditor to come and review the assessments.

Assessor Little was in the audience at the Winn Police Jury's February meeting, but was asked, and did not comment on the allegations by McFarland. A later special meeting of the Jury was called on February 27 to discuss the Six-C matter, but was cancelled.

McFarland had prepared an 11-page summary of the L-P land sales and re-sales, along with a series of citations of Louisiana tax laws, which he filed with the Police Jury, and later furnished to State Senator Mike Smith of Winnfield. At McFarland's request, Sen. Smith forwarded the material to the Legislative Auditor's office in Baton Rouge, where it was reviewed without action and forwarded to the Louisiana Tax Commission, which is the controlling agency for local tax assessors.

On February 27, the date originally set for the special meeting of the Police Jury, Winn Assessor Little was in Baton Rouge meeting with the Louisiana Tax Commission to review the Six-C matter. Little said that after its review, he was told by the Commission his assessment was accurate according to the rules, and to "Go home, and don't worry."

The Legislative Auditor's office had reviewed his work in an audit last year, including the Six-C land acquisitions, and approved it, Little said. The Assessor said he has been informed by sources that the Legislative Auditor has no plans to make a second visit.

Concerning the forestland tax classification for Six-C, "They filed the proper applications. These are filed with this office, and not with the Police Jury," said Little.

As part of its shut-down of operations at the L-P mill at Urania Louisiana in 2002, L-P Corp. sold all the company's forest land acreage and timber holdings in LaSalle, Caldwell, and Winn Parishes. According to McFarland's research papers, the lands were sold to Barrs & Glawson Investments of Atlanta, Georgia, to Roy O. Martin Lumber Co., and to Martin-Urania Corporation for a total of $74 million.

Barrs & Glawson re-sold the major blocks of the former L-P lands to Six-C Properties of Lafayette, including 50,383 acres in Winn, 4800 acres in Caldwell, and 6,068 acres in LaSalle parishes, for a total of $55,000,000. Principals in Six-C are listed as James Glasgow and Billy A. Busbice, Jr.

Six-C has not publicly announced any plans for use of the forestlands, but have erected fencing around much of the acreage in eastern Winn Parish, with the reported intent of developing wildlife habitat.

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