CORPORATE INCENTIVES SUBSIDY- Louisiana’s Industrial Tax Exemption Program, or ITEP, is the most expensive tax incentive program the state offers to manufacturers to build plants in Louisiana or expand operations. In exchange, manufacturing companies can get a break on their property taxes for 10 years. The idea behind it was to create jobs and spur economic development. But for decades only one state board of commerce and industry had the authority to grant or deny these incentives, critics say the board would often “rubber stamp” these requests without verifying a return on the investments . But that all changed when Governor John Bel Edwards was elected back in 2016. Edwards signed an executive order giving local governments and agencies a say in approving or denying these tax incentives. The reason: local governments, sheriff’s departments, school districts all rely on local property taxes. Last month, In a stunning move the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board voted to reject two tax-break requests from ExxonMobil for work at its Baton Rouge Refinery and at its polyolefins plant.
Some say this rejection could put future industrial investment in Louisiana at risk. State Senator Bodi White , a Republican represents part of Baton Rouge in the Louisiana legislature. He explained to Public Radio WRKF that he plans to bring a bill next session that may change ITEP once again.
”I would like to take the veto away from the locals," explained White. " For 10 or 12 school board members and then 10 or 12 council members, and then the sheriff, and then the Mayor-President, that’s a lot of lobbying for someone to come in and try to convince them that they should do this project; when they can go right across the stateline. There’s nothing like that over in Texas, they don’t have the obstacles thrown in front of them. "
Last November, a citizen’s coalition called “Together Louisiana Baton Rouge” released a video “Why Louisiana Stays Poor” citing statistics such as the per-capita cost of corporate subsidies. According to their report Louisiana’s corporate subsidies programs costs over $2,800 per capita of which about 80% is attributed to Louisiana’s ITEP program, the national
average is $291 per capita, whereas neighbor state Texas corporate subsidies costs per capita is $89. The report stated that for 2017 alone, just under $2 billion dollars in tax revenue wasn’t collected that would’ve gone to local goverments, law enforcement agencies, and school districts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWTic9btP38">Together Louisiana - Baton Rouge ITEP Report
