re: Good news for Lake Charles area - Commonwealth LNG moving forward in Cameron Parish

quote:

---

Since 2006, East Baton Rouge Parish's taxing authorities have lost $571 million to the industrial tax exemption. Ascension Parish gave up $958 million. Jefferson Parish gave up $156 million and Orleans Parish gave up $112 million, according to the Louisiana Tax Commission."

---

Unless they are writing checks or financing the construction directly, they aren’t losing anything. Its an important distinction because some places actually do that, and it’s incredibly risky and stupid, especially if it’s for a company that isn’t very established. And of course it’s another avenue for influence peddling.

For Louisiana’s tax exemption program - the option is to voluntarily not collect taxes in exchange for a private investment in a certain district or to not collect taxes on a private investment that never comes. Either way they aren’t getting that tax revenue. But if you offer the exemption, you at least get the jobs and indirect tax revenue for the duration of the exemption (5 years usually, but it’s sometimes extended).

Let’s say there is a major company in an industry that Louisiana and Texas are both targeting for investment in their districts. The correct move for both states is to make sure the tax code is business friendly and build out infrastructure to be competitive naturally. But that will not happen quickly. The second best move is to offer tax incentives on investment in the state if the new factory or expansion results in critical new infrastructure or new jobs. The absolute worst outcome often to do nothing and have neither the jobs nor the tax revenue, which tends to result in our human capital moving to Texas, Georgia, or Tennessee.

La needs to target businesses that invest in large private infrastructure projects (like LNG export terminals, rail yards, pipelines, etc) and those that hire a lot of people (like refineries, auto plants, corporate HQ, etc.). We are doing a great job with the industrial base, but our performance in tech and other white collar jobs are disappointing.

Outside of deep water access and pipeline network, Louisiana’s infrastructure is total crap - especially from the perspective of education, energy transmission, and our road/highway network. That has to be addressed either way. LADOTD, public schools, and Entergy are not delivering adequate performance for most of the state.