(The Associated Press circulated the following article on September 21.)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Southern Industries Inc. said Tuesday it will prepay about $655,000 in property and other real estate taxes to areas affected by Hurricane Katrina.
The railroad company said the payments will cover property in 11 parishes in Louisiana and three counties in Mississippi and can be used to help local officials pay for recovery work.
“We realize that state and local governments face enormous demands right now at a time when their local tax base may not be generating enough revenues for them to respond with,” Michael Haverty, chairman, president and chief executive officer, said in a written statement. “That’s why we decided to go ahead and prepay our local taxes so these local governments can get these payments now when they need them most.”
Kathy Waterbury, a spokeswoman for the Mississippi State Tax Commission, said her office has received a “handful” of calls from large property owners and businesses wanting to prepay property taxes in the region rather than waiting until the typical February deadline.
She said most counties haven’t yet set their tax rates and property value assessments don’t go out until December.