WWNO
Originally published on December 17, 2020 7:59 pm
New Orleans City Council voted Thursday to defer most of its votes on the Folgers Coffee Company’s tax exemption applications to a future meeting in January 2021.
Newly appointed City Council President Helena Moreno pushed for council members to vote on six of the industrial tax exemptions that Folgers applied for through Louisiana’s Industrial Tax Exemption Program (ITEP), which gives companies breaks on up to 80 percent of their taxes for up to 10 years. Folgers is seeking exemptions that could total roughly $25 million over a decade.
“To me these tax exemptions are just not worth it,” Moreno said in session.
The New Orleans City Council voted down two property tax breaks for The Folger Coffee Co. on Thursday but punted its decision on four others into the new year. Hours later, the Orleans Parish School Board rejected all six of the companyâs applications for exemptions that could be worth as much as $25 million over 10 years.
The City Councilâs delay on four of the projects came as members were sharply divided between those seeking more time to bring in company representatives to explain the requests and those favoring an immediate rejection. A key undercurrent was the question of exactly how much revenue City Hall and other taxing agencies would be giving up if the exemptions were granted.
ExxonMobil considers $240M upgrade at Baton Rouge refinery
ExxonMobil might invest over $240 million to upgrade its refinery in Baton Rouge, state officials said Wednesday.
The project would improve processing capability, increase flexibility for meeting market demand, advance overall site competitiveness and install technology for a voluntarily 10% reduction of volatile organic compound emissions, a news release said. The projects are pending final engineering, design and investment decisions. A decision to proceed could come from ExxonMobil in 2021, the release said.
Around 1,300 existing jobs would be retained, and ExxonMobil estimates the projects would support more than 600 construction jobs on-site over three years, the release said. The investment also would provide more than 20 full-time job opportunities for graduates of the North Baton Rouge Industrial Training Initiative, a collaborative program spearheaded by ExxonMobil in 2012 to provide no-cost, fast-tracked industri