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Assessor warns exemptions, IDB PILOTs trimming Lafourche Parish tax base; council seeks clarification
Summary
Lafourche Parish Assessor Wendy Thibodeau told the parish council that property tax exemptions and Industrial Development Board PILOTs have reduced the local tax base and asked for clearer oversight; Parish President Mitchell Ojourant said some arrangements involved the IDB becoming property owner and defended job retention outcomes.
LAFOURCHE PARISH, La. — Lafourche Parish Assessor Wendy Thibodeau told the parish council on Sept. 9 that a range of tax exemptions and payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) agreements administered by the Industrial Development Board (IDB) have substantially reduced the parish’s tax base and merit further oversight.
“What I have just done is giving you an exemption because you don't have to pay your bill,” Thibodeau said during a presentation that used an orange/yellow card analogy to explain how exemptions shift tax burdens to other taxpayers.
Thibodeau cited two recent IDB arrangements as examples: a PILOT tied to an approximately $11 million project for Triple Sun Holdings (identified in the presentation as the Holiday Inn in Thibodaux)…
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