Good Government: Livingston Parish accidentally approves tax exemption for solar field

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Livingston council unknowingly approves tax exemption for solar project

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Several members of the Livingston Parish Council said they were unaware the council had by default approved a tax exemption worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

How did it happen? The state economic development agency sent a notification about the exemption request to the assistant to the administrative assistant to the parish president, who overlooked the letter, parish officials said Monday. The parish approved the exemption when it did not respond in 30 days.

"It just got lost in the shuffle," said Livingston Parish President Layton Ricks.

The news of the parish's approval came to light last week when the Livingston Parish School Board publicly considered a request from New Orleans-based Joule Energy for an industrial tax exemption to build a utility-scale solar field outside Springfield.

The 36-acre project would receive $600,000 worth of local property tax exemptions over 10 years, should Joule Energy receive approval from the parish council, sheriff and school board, according to analysis from the Baton Rouge Area Chamber. The company is expected to create one full-time job

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