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DeSoto jurors briefed on two International Paper tax-abatement applications under new state review process
Summary
Staff told the jury two International Paper abatement applications represent about $200 million in abated assessments (roughly $30 million in taxes abated over 10 years) and outlined a new state-mandated local-review process requiring a three-entity board to convene and offer input to Louisiana Economic Development.
Speaker 2 told jurors the parish had received two separate abatement applications from International Paper and that, under a recent executive order, local input procedures have changed. "These are, at the point of contact for the local pilot committee," Speaker 2 said, and explained the required local board will include the police jury, the school board and the sheriff's office; if a project is inside a municipality, the municipal mayor may also sit on the board.
Speaker 2 said the two applications together "represent about $200,000,000 worth of abated assessments which translated into dollars that would be roughly $30,000,000 over 10 years in taxes abated for all parcels." He warned jurors the state timeline requires notification within 15 days and that the local meeting must occur within 45 days of receiving an application, a timing constraint that could create scheduling challenges for the local reviewers.
Speaker 8 reminded the panel that the governor's order altered the way local input is gathered and stressed that the state retains final decision authority; local input is advisory to Louisiana Economic Development. The administration said the matter will be placed on the local committee agenda and that President Jones is likely to make a recommendation to support or not support the applications at the committee meeting next week.
The jury later approved a resolution authorizing the president to sign the industrial tax-exemption resolution as submitted to the parish by Louisiana Economic Development; the record shows the motion passed without a recorded roll-call tally in the minutes of the meeting.
Next steps: the local review board will convene under the new rules, jurors will review the applications at the committee meeting, and the jury will provide the required local input within the state-mandated timeframe.
