Just taaake the moneeeys

Earlier in the year Ben Kleban proposed an across the board freeze on the school board granting these kinds of tax breaks now that they have the discretion to do that. Instead they're considering each request individually so the schools can continue to die by a thousand cuts. 

The request from Bollinger Algiers, a subsidiary of shipbuilding and vessel repair firm Bollinger Shipyards, did not meet two of the district’s four requirements to secure an exemption, according to the notes in a board resolution to deny the exemption.

It’s unclear what project or Bollinger property the exemption would apply to. The company did not return a phone call, and school district officials did not immediately respond to a question from The Lens.

The industrial tax exemption is the state’s most expensive tax break, costing local governments $13.7 billion in lost tax revenue between 2006 and 2016, according to The Advocate.

The exemption has allowed eligible manufacturers to forgo all property taxes related to new facility improvements for up to 10 years. That was recently capped at 80 percent of property taxes for 10 years, but because Bollinger applied for the exemption before the rules changed, it is seeking a 100 percent exemption, emails from the company show.

It's still possible that the board could deny this one.  But, really, they ought to be in the habit of denying these and just taking all the money they're entitled to. Instead, they're very likely to follow the lead of the mayor's office since they've weighed in.

At the July meeting, Kleban said the school board’s criteria were adopted after consulting with Cantrell’s office. But on Tuesday, Cantrell spokesman Beau Tidwell said the city “is still in the process of developing a procedure for reviewing ITEP requests,” which will be done in collaboration with the school board and the sheriff’s sffice.

Bollinger has also submitted requests with the city and the sheriff’s office for exemptions on property taxes they oversee.

“Until the new process is in place, we believe it’s fair that requests such as Bollinger Algiers’ request — which was submitted under the old system — should be allowed to move forward,” Tidwell said.

During last year's mayoral election Boysie Bollinger donated heavily to a PAC attacking Cantrell's opponent as having been "for sale" to special interests.  It's taken several months to finish this "review" process. Maybe because of complicating factors like that.