Over nearly two decades, a state board comprised of representatives from major economic groups and gubernatorial appointees granted Calumet Specialty Products, an oil and solvents company, an estimated $163 million in industrial tax exemptions in Caddo and Bossier parishes.
As The Shreveport Times reports, Calumet’s exemptions were the largest granted by the Louisiana Board of Commerce and Industry in either parish under the long-standing Industrial Tax Exemption Program.
A majority of the property tax exemptions were granted in Caddo Parish, yet the Caddo Parish Tax Assessor’s Office did not keep track of them for Calumet or any other manufacturer.
That means the parish has no idea exactly how much tax revenue was forfeited to exemptions.
The Shreveport Times computed the $144.1 million in Calumet tax exemptions for the years 2001-2017. It used data provided by state and parish officials and a methodology vetted by taxing authorities.
Bossier Parish, in contrast, recorded the revenue lost to industrial tax exemptions. Calumet’s Bossier Parish exemptions totaled $18.6 million for the same period.
Stakeholder opinions vary as to whether parishes should have recorded the tax value the industrial tax exemptions granted for company investments in their jurisdictions. But it may not matter much longer—if the Louisiana Tax Commission approves new reporting guidelines that would require parish tax assessors to track exemption amounts.
