East Baton Rouge councilman proposes benchmarks for companies seeking tax breaks

Councilman LaMont Cole speaking on behalf of the citizens of Baton Rouge.

East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Councilman LaMont Cole wants his colleagues to consider inserting hiring benchmarks into a set of proposed guidelines the governing body would use while weighing whether it will grant multimillion-dollar tax breaks to job-producing industries.

Cole believes any company seeking a tax break through the state's Industrial Tax Exemption Program should create at least 25 permanent full-time jobs or 15 percent of the company's "pre-project baseline" employment level to qualify. The Industrial Tax Exemption Program is designed to give manufacturers a temporary break on their property taxes while setting up new capital expenditures.