Thibodaux tax office closing June 26

The Thibodaux Regional Office of the Louisiana Department of Revenue is the latest victim of the state’s cost-cutting effort.

The state tax department is looking to save an estimated $1 million yearly by eliminating jobs and closing the Thibodaux office. In anticipation of the change, the department is mandating that its regional offices offer taxpayer help by appointment only.

In all, the Revenue Department is laying off 29 tax analysts – three from the Thibodaux site – currently assigned to one of its nine regional offices. The employees provide walk-in taxpayer help.

The Thibodaux closure and layoffs take effect June 26, according to a release.

Kerry Alley, who has served as director of the Thibodaux Regional Office for 26 years, said the site has been serving the community for nearly 30 years.

The agency assists individuals and businesses in Lafourche, Terrebonne, Grand Isle, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Charles and Assumption parishes. After June 26, locals will have to travel to one of the three nearest regional offices in Lafayette, New Orleans or Baton Rouge for services.

The Revenue Department is keeping 14 employees – auditors and collectors – on the payroll. However, they will work from home.

“They will be providing field audit services and business assistance through wireless technology,” Alley said. “Each auditor and collector will have a tablet PC to work on from home.”

Alley said auditors’ daily role will be essentially the same – auditing sales and corporation taxes filed by citizens and businesses. The work includes locally-based companies as well as out-of-state businesses that operate in Louisiana.

The collectors, in the meantime, work with individuals and businesses that owe delinquent taxes.

Those staffers will coordinate work with the agency’s main hub, he said.

The Thibodaux office is the only Revenue Department field site slated to close at this time. State revenue officials said the cuts will account for approximately $1 million in savings for 2010 fiscal year.

Alley said he intends to retire after the Thibodaux office closes.

“It’s always sad to see an institution get shut down,” he said. “The harder part is seeing people lose their jobs and how big of an inconvenience it will be for the locals in this area and the surrounding areas we cover.”