Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand on Tuesday countered assertions by Fat City bar owners that his agency's recent raids and sales tax audits on their businesses are part of a deliberate effort to target them because they are protesting new regulations in the neighborhood. "The strong-arm tactic that they're talking about, it holds no water," Normand said. "I've got...
Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand on Tuesday countered assertions by Fat City bar owners that his agency's recent raids and sales tax audits on their businesses are part of a deliberate effort to target them because they are protesting new regulations in the neighborhood.
Newell Normand"The strong-arm tactic that they're talking about, it holds no water," Normand said. "I've got complaints to back up every action that I've done."
Owners say at least 10 Fat City bars have received notices of sales tax audit notices from Normand in recent weeks, a move several of the proprietors interpreted as retaliation for fighting proposed rules that they close by midnight most days and on Saturdays and Sundays at 1 a.m. The sheriff, who serves as tax collector for the parish, supports the massive zoning ordinance that includes the rules.
The Parish Council could vote today on the ordinance, which aims to overhaul and revitalize the languishing Fat City district.
Normand said the audits are unrelated to the broader debate in Fat City, instead stemming from ordinary procedures in the Sheriff's Office, such as examining discrepancies between monthly and annual sales tax reports from businesses, scrutinizing sudden drops in sales and responding to tips about businesses under-reporting their tax collections.
In recent years, Normand said, vice squads investigating alcoholic beverage outlets in all parts of the parish have worked more closely with tax enforcers, reporting any signs of lax collections. That has prompted more audits, Normand said.
"This isn't something unique to Fat City," Normand said. "We're doing this all over the place."
He said the Sheriff's Office has conducted 105 sales tax audits of alcohol outlets in the past five years, identifying $3.5 million in unpaid taxes and penalties.
The office currently has 43 open audits of bars and stores selling liquor. Between 10 and 15 of those are in Fat City, Normand said.
He said the process of pegging them for audits started long before the Fat City issue heated up in the past two months, although several of the bar owners received official notification of audits in late August and early September as the debate raged.
Normand attributed any disproportionate enforcement spike in Fat City to the heightened attention on the neighborhood that is at the heart of the zoning plan, which has prompted more members of the public to report violations.
That especially applies to stings in recent months, resulting in citations for selling alcohol to minors at two night spots and four convenience stores and arrests on prostitution and drug charges at one strip club.
"Fat City's been in the news," he said. "People are starting to talk. They've heard we've made cases in Fat City."
"I can't turn a blind eye," Normand said. "If I've got a complaint, I'm going in."
He also said the audits are partly designed to educate business owners on proper tax collection procedures. Some bar owners, for example, don't know they have to collect sales taxes on cover charges for live music, he said.
"It's not necessarily a punitive thing," Normand said. "It's very much to bring them into compliance."
He said his support for deputies working security details at bars is a sign he wants to help the bars avoid trouble.
"I've tried to create an environment where they can succeed," he said.
Many bars operate responsibly, he said. Those that don't, he said, hurt the others.
"Our goal is for them to stay open" and keep generating tax revenue, he said. "I have no interest in shutting them down. I have an interest in ensuring they're compliant."
Yet, he said, he takes umbrage at some bar owners in news media appearances attacking him, along with Cynthia Lee-Sheng, the councilwoman who serves as the primary backer of the Fat City plan and a political ally of Normand.
"We're not being arbitrary and capricious," Normand said. "I'm certainly not trying to wreak havoc and make a point with these bar owners."
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Mark Waller can be reached at mwaller@timespicayune.com or 504.883.7056.
