PRESS RELEASE DETAIL
For release: IMMEDIATELY
Release Date: 10/25/2017
Mayor-President Broome Issues Executive Order on Local Industrial Tax Exemption Program
BATON ROUGE, La. — In response to Gov. John Bel Edwards’ 2016 executive order on Louisiana’s Industrial Tax Exemption Program granting exemption authorization to local governing bodies, Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome today issued an executive order on behalf of East Baton Rouge Parish. The order is to provide an effective way to handle local review for exemptions for Industrial Tax Exemptions in the parish.
“I applaud Governor Edwards’ effort to provide local control over these exemptions that directly affect the finances of our local communities,” Mayor-President Broome said. “While the exemptions serve as a business development tool, they also have a large effect on the revenue bases for almost all local services. With local control comes the responsibility for us to have an orderly process to evaluate the exemption request on a cost benefit basis.”
Prior to both executive orders, local governments in Louisiana had little control over whether to grant tax exemptions, which sometimes affected funding for school boards, law enforcement and other city services. The executive order for East Baton Rouge Parish will take effect on Oct. 30, 2017.