Maxwell, Blaney plan collections call on FOL

Published 12:00 am Saturday, July 8, 2000

VIDALIA, La. — Two top Concordia officials will travel to New York Monday in an attempt to collect the more than $2 million in taxes bankrupt Fruit of the Loom owes the parish.

Charlie Blaney, president of the Concordia Parish Police Jury, and Sheriff Randy Maxwell will meet with lawyers for Fruit of the Loom and attorneys from a Delaware law firm the parish has retained to help collect the funds.

&uot;This is to get an idea of where we stand with them, to maybe work out a working solution to this thing. So much depends on us getting this money,&uot;&160;Blaney said. Maxwell could not be reached for comment Friday.

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Fruit of the Loom owes about $700,000 to the Concordia Parish School District, $564,000 to the Police Jury, $547,000 to the Sheriff’s Office and $96,000 to the Town of Vidalia.

If those taxes aren’t paid, parish residents may face cutbacks in services. The jury is already cutting expenses as much as it can while still maintaining public works.

&uot;But if we can’t get these taxes, we may have to quit grading some roads, opening some ditches or patching some potholes for a while,&uot;&160;Blaney said.

With that in mind, the Police Jury and other parish agencies in early May gave their primary attorney, Steve Willis of Alexandria, the approval to seek a timetable for payment.

However, Fruit of the Loom officials said in January they did not know when or if the company would be able to pay.

And Maxwell has said that even with a payment plan, the parish may have to wait two to three months to begin receiving payments.