Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumLouisiana Constitution Amendment Would Free Oil & Gas Industries From Property Taxes, Forever
A new Louisiana State Constitutional Amendment could ensure that the oil and gas industry doesnt have to pay property taxes ever again. The good news is that this is a state matter residents have control over Louisiana voters can vote against it.
Amendment 5 is also being described as a corporate welfare amendment and was created for a specific oil and gas company, Cameron LNG, which is an export facility. It is actually a foreign conglomeration with domestic partners. Its mostly owned by Japanese corporations. I spoke on the phone with Broderick Bagert of Together Louisiana, a coalition of church and community activists which is taking a stand against Amendment 5. Below is more of what I learned about this amendment.
Link to tweet
Bagert explained to me a bit of the background behind this amendment to the states constitution. Ten years ago, Cameron LNG was given tax exemption on a property worth $1213 billion. Some reports say $12 billion while others say $13 billion. This ten-year tax exemption is expiring, and for the past few years, Cameron LNG has been trying to get this amendment to the states constitution onto voters ballot.
Right now, for Cameron LNG to be forever tax exempt would be against Louisianas state law. Of further note, the land that Cameron LNG uses is the most valuable piece of property in the state of Louisiana, Bagert told me. However, in 2019, Cameron LNG paid just $38,000 worth of taxes. Bagert pointed out that the property is 99.98% tax exempt, and if Cameron LNG was paying its full taxes, the amount it would be paying is $220 million. Instead, those who own property in Cameron are having to pay higher taxes to make up the difference. And services and public infrastructure are not what they could be.
EDIT
Cameron LNG has invested a few million dollars into a lobbying campaign to change Louisianas constitution to allow the company to keep its property tax exemption indefinitely. A few million is clearly less than $220 million. Bagert explained that Cameron Parish yes, the same parish where Hurricane Laura made landfall and wiped towns off the map has a pretty high property tax rate. Every single person man, woman, and child is paying for Cameron LNGs tax exemption.
EDIT
https://cleantechnica.com/2020/09/11/louisianas-amendment-5-wants-to-exempt-big-oil-from-paying-property-taxes-forever-while-making-taxpayers-foot-the-bill/
FBaggins
(26,714 posts)The amendment merely gives local governments the power to make similar deals. It doesn't "free oil companies from taxes forever".
Presumably, the municipality in each case feels that the deal is in their best interests... and it's certainly something that (if the citizens disagree) can cost them their position in the next election.
We can disagree with a given deal from afar, but that's different from saying that other localities shouldn't be empowered to make them.
jimfields33
(15,667 posts)I think most just put yes to all of them. Hopefully its different in Louisiana at least for this question.