Chemical association wants clarification of taxing district law

The Louisiana Chemical Association wants to get clarification on a law, which it says could affect plans to set up a special taxing district in East Baton Rouge Parish to pass an $887.5 million bond issue. Speaking at the Baton Rouge Press Club today, LCA president Dan Borné says the law, passed last year, states industrial areas like those in north Baton Rouge can’t be included in special taxing districts. Borné says the LCA has met with the city-parish, and says the city’s initial response was that the law doesn’t apply in this case. “This is not for or against what the city-parish is trying to do. This is simply trying to get a clarification of the law,” Borné says. Richard Leibowitz, a partner with Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson, who serves as the city-parish bond attorney, says the law only bars special service districts, like those set up for fire protection or drainage, from being part of an industrial district. “This law does not affect special taxing districts, like what we want to set up,” Leibowitz says.—David Jacobs and Timothy Boone