ECONOMIC AND FISCAL IMPACT OF A WAL-MART DISTRIBUTION CENTER IN OPELOUSAS, LOUISIANA AUGUST 2008

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1 ECONOMIC AND FISCAL IMPACT OF A WAL-MART DISTRIBUTION CENTER IN OPELOUSAS, LOUISIANA AUGUST 2008

2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Wal-Mart opened a distribution facility in Opelousas, Louisiana in The facility currently employs just under 1,000 employees. The following bullets highlight the economic and fiscal impacts of the facility during 2007: Annual Economic Impact The Wal-Mart Distribution Center had a total economic impact of $89.5 million on St. Landry Parish in The Wal-Mart Distribution Center currently has an annual economic impact of $40.7 million in wages for St. Landry Parish. The Wal-Mart facility currently supports 973 direct employees and an additional 302 indirect employees for a total of 1,275 employees. Over $7 million in wages created indirectly from the operation of the Distribution Facility in St. Landry Parish. Fiscal Impact In all, city, parish, and state government received $2.02 million in 2007 based on direct and indirect wages paid to Wal-Mart employees and direct taxes paid by the Wal-Mart Distribution Center. Total Fiscal Impact, 2007 Revenue Received City of Opelousas $180,797 St. Landry Parish $1,255,415 State of Louisiana $579,995 Total $2,016,207 Wal-Mart paid $965,000 in taxes in 2007, based on its merchandise and movables, to St. Landry Parish. The City of Opelousas collects approximately $130,000 per year from sales tax based on direct and indirect spending of Wal-Mart employees while St. Landry Parish collects $210,000 and the State of Louisiana takes $580,000. In all, approximately $920 thousand in sales tax revenue is created annually. Over $130,000 in annual personal property tax is created by Distribution Center employees for Opelousas ($51,000) and St. Landry Parish ($80,000). The average Distribution Center employee spends over $13,000 per year on taxable merchandise. Civic Economics 1

3 This report will be broken down into two key sections. Section One will deal with the economic impacts of the Wal-Mart Distribution Facility. It will look at the amount economic activity that it both creates directly and the additional activity it generates for Opelousas and St. Landry Parish. Section Two will look at the fiscal impacts of this economic activity, calculating its effects on the finances of the major taxing jurisdictions in St. Landry Parish. SECTION ONE: ECONOMIC IMPACTS Economic impacts are comprised of employment and wages at the Distribution Center. The direct effects include the expenditures of the facility itself. The indirect effects include the increased economic activity derived from local business purchases. For example, catering firms hired to do a business luncheon. The induced effects are the increased economic activity created with the increased incomes created by both the direct and indirect business activities in St. Landry Parish. For example, a new car is purchased by an employee of the distribution center. Direct Effects In 2007, the Wal-Mart Distribution Center employed 973 people and had a total annual payroll of approximately $33.6 million. Just under half of the employees live in St. Landry Parish and just under 80 percent of warehouse associates live within 25 miles of the Distribution Center. According to the latest employment and wage data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Wal-Mart Distribution Center employs 3.9 percent of all wage and salary employees in the Parish and provides 4.4 percent of all their related income. The average wage of employees at the Wal-Mart Distribution Center is over $34,450, twelve and a half percent higher than the average Parish wage. Indirect and Induced Effects To calculate the indirect effects of the Wal- Mart Distribution Center, a multiplier is employed to estimate the overall impact of adding industry specific employment. For this analysis, the multipliers were supplied by IMPLAN, an industry standard economic modeling program based on an input-output system. Average Wages Paid, 2007 $34,548 $30,672 Wal-Mart St. Landry Source: Wal-Mart, US Bureau of Labor Statistics Jobs Created By Wal-Mart, Direct Indirect Induced Total Source: Wal-Mart and Implan Civic Economics 2

4 Indirect and Induced Jobs Created By Sector, 2007 Ag, Forestry, Fish & Hunting Mining Utilities Construction Manufacturing Wholesale Trade Transportation & Warehousing Retail trade Information Finance & insurance Real estate & rental Professional- scientific & tech svcs Management of companies Administrative & waste services Educational svcs Health & social services Arts, entertainment & recreation Accomodation & food services Other services Government & non NAICs Source: Civic Economics, Implan In addition to the 973 employees and $33.6 million in wages for direct effects, the Distribution Center also adds an additional 301 employees and $7.1 million in wages to St. Landry Parish in indirect and induced effects. These combine to give a total economic impact of approximately 1,275 jobs and over $40.7 million in wages. In order to paint a clearer picture of the types of jobs indirectly created by the Distribution Center, the chart to the right shows the sectors in which these indirect jobs are created. The most jobs were added to the retail trade sector which sold goods with the demand created by the additional employees added by Wal-Mart. Additional employees were added in every employment sector as the demands of both the firm and individual employees spurred further job growth. The health services sectors and real estate industries also receive substantial employment due to the location of the Wal-Mart Distribution Center in St. Landry Parish. The accompanying chart lists the average earnings by sector for both the direct and indirect employees related to the Distribution Center. The indirect employees average wage is lower than the direct average wage because the majority of indirect employment is created in retail sales and services, which provide lower wages than average. Other employment sectors such as construction, manufacturing, and transportation and public utilities have higher wages but account for a smaller portion of the employment gains. Civic Economics 3

5 SECTION TWO: FISCAL IMPACTS The fiscal impact section will take the data from the economic impact section and translate those impacts into actual finances for the governmental units. The Distribution Center will have an effect on the property and sales tax collected in the region. Sales Tax Sales taxes collected in the region will increase as the $40.7 million in direct and indirect wages gets pumped through the county. As wages grow, the amount of disposable income used for retail purchases increases, thereby increasing the sales taxes collected. Sales Tax Rates Opelousas 2.20% St. Landry Parish 3.55% State of Louisiana 4.00% Total Sales Tax 9.75% Based on an average salary of $34,458, the average direct employee Spending Per Direct Effect Employee will spend over $13,500 per year on Average Salary $ 34,548 taxable goods. (For a detailed list of Effective Buying Income $ 33,288 calculations and data sources please read the methodology section.) This Retail Sales Spending $ 27,361 spending will be distributed around Taxable Sales $ 13,681 the region based on the residency of Source: Wal-Mart, Civic Economics the employees involved. Employees living and working in St. Landry Parish will spend a higher percentage of their money within St. Landry Parish and therefore contribute more in sales taxes than will their colleagues commuting from outside the Parish. Residence of Employees, Direct, Indirect and Induced Direct Indirect Induced Total Opelousas St. Landry Parish St. Landry Parish- Outside Opelousas Outside St. Landry Parish However, spending in other jurisdictions, known as leakage, occurs even with residents of a county. Money is spent on vacations and trips to the regional shopping centers, which causes money created within a region to be spent and consequently taxed in another jurisdiction. For this study the leakage rate was determined to be approximately 40 percent based upon a formula involving retail sales in the county and average wages paid. For employees not living in St. Landry Parish it was assumed that 10 percent of their spending would occur in St. Landry as money would be spent driving to and from work and possibly during off-hours. Lastly, a figure of 90 percent was used to determine the amount of taxable spending kept within Louisiana. The large majority would be spent in the state with some leakage occurring on vacations and due to online sales. Based on these figures, the Civic Economics 4

6 average revenue collected per direct and indirect employee is listed in the chart on the below. Sales Tax Collection By Jurisdiction and Residency Direct Employees Indirect and Induced Employees Taxing Jurisdiction County Resident Non-County Resident County Resident Non-County Resident Opelousas St. Landry Parish Louisiana When taken together the 973 Distribution Center employees and their 301 spin-offs add over $918 thousand per year in sales tax revenue collected. Opelousas receives over $129,000, St. Landry Parish earns $209,000, and Louisiana adds $580,000 in sales tax revenue annually. Total Sales Tax Collected, 2007 City of Opelousas $ 129,591 St. Landry Parish $ 209,112 State of Louisiana $ 579,995 Total $ 918,698 Property Tax The Wal-Mart facility has received an abatement on its property taxes and therefore makes no payments in this area. However, the facility is responsible for taxes based on its merchandise and movables and makes an annual payment of approximately $965 thousand. This is roughly the same amount that Wal-Mart would pay in property taxes. Additional property taxes are added to taxing jurisdictions from this project based the property values of the employees living within their boundaries. The employees of the facility and its indirect employees also own and rent homes in the city and parish. For purposes of this study, it is assumed that the average Wal-Mart employee as property valued at approximately $121,000 and indirect and induced employees have $85,000 and $81,000 worth of property respectively. (Please see the methodology section for details of these calculations.) According to the Wal-Mart facility, just below half of their employees live in St. Landry Parish and 30 percent live in Opelousas. In calculating the property tax received, only employees living within those jurisdictions were included. Property Tax Rates Opelousas St. Landry Parish Mills Mills Civic Economics 5

7 Using the tax rates and formulas provided by each jurisdiction, the total direct and indirect workforce supported by the Wal-Mart Distribution Facility would pay over $51,000 to the City of Opelousas, and nearly $80,000 to St. Landry Parish on an annual basis. Total Property Tax Collected, 2007 Opelousas $ 51,206 St. Landry Parish $ 79,500 Total $ 130,706 Civic Economics 6

8 Total Taxes When combining sales tax, property tax, and the additional Wal-Mart tax for merchandise and movables, the total amount contributed from the direct and indirect effects of the Wal- Mart Distribution Center totals $2.02 million annually. The table below summarizes the effects on each of the taxing jurisdictions. Total Fiscal Impact, 2007 Direct Indirect Induced Total City of Opelousas 143,966 9,970 26, ,797 St. Landry Parish 1,191,824 17,631 45,959 1,255,415 State of Louisiana 479,202 26,729 74, ,995 Total 1,814,992 54, ,885 2,016,207 Civic Economics 7

9 METHODOLOGY Data Sources Wal-Mart officials completed a surveyed that was provided to them and relied on data specific to the Wal-Mart Distribution Center in Opelousas, Louisiana. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) provided employment and wage information for St. Landry County. The Implan model was used for determining the multipliers used in determining indirect and induced effects. Sales and property tax rates were supplied by the St. Landry Parish Economic and Industrial District. Retail sales data was supplied by Claritas. Sales Tax To calculate the expected sales tax revenue for each taxing jurisdiction the average salary for each employee was calculated. From this average salary the amount spent on taxable items needs to be derived. The BLS provides an annual survey of expenditures and ratios were applied between average southern residents and Wal-Mart employees to determine the appropriate amount of retail sales per employee. The ratio between retail spending and effective buying income was calculated for St. Landry Parish and was also applied to Wal- Mart employees. It was assumed that half of all sales would be taxable since no specific county data could be located. The leakage rates were applied as described in the text of the sales tax section previously. The sales tax revenues were calculated using the tax rates set forth by each jurisdiction. One shortcoming of this method lies in the fact that, generally, the higher one s salary the more they will save and therefore not use on taxable retail sales. Since specific data providing employees per salary level was unavailable, the average salary method was employed. Personal Property Tax The first step that needed to be taken was to calculate the number of employees living in the Opelousas city and boundaries and then the number living within St. Landry Parish For these calculations, only the number of employees living within these boundaries was relevant. In calculating personal property tax the average employee s salary was multiplied by 3.5 to provide an estimate of the housing price they could afford. The multiplier applied in this case is dependent on the current mortgage interest rate and will decrease as interest rates increase. One the average housing price was calculated the relevant tax rates and formulas were applied to get the appropriate revenues for each taxing jurisdiction. Civic Economics 8

10 For more information about this study, please contact: St. Landry Parish Economic Industrial Development District Executive Director: Gerard Perron sleidd.com Civic Economics Matt Cunningham, Partner civiceconomics.com Civic Economics 9