Making Our Tax System

Work for Working Families

We Organized & Delivered

$1B+

to Local Communities

Louisiana’s Industrial Tax Exemption Program (ITEP) is the most generous corporate welfare program in the nation. It exempts large industrial manufacturers from paying property taxes, which raises taxes on everyday people and decreases funding for public services like schools, police and roads. We organized and won reforms to the program in 2016. Since then, over $1 billion has flowed back to local communities (instead of being given away in special tax deals).

Why Louisiana Stays Poor

This video from 2018 explains how even though Louisiana is rich in resources, it still ranks last in the nation. It’s a great place to start for understanding the impact of ITEP on our state.

Background

The Nation’s Largest Corporate Welfare Program

From its inception in 1936 until 2016, ITEP was one of the largest state industrial subsidy programs in the nation, offering a 100% property tax exemption for as long as 10 years on capital investments by industrial manufacturers.

In February 2024, Governor Jeff Landry made changes to allow corporations to receive tax exemptions without needing to create jobs and without needing approval of local elected bodies whose revenue is being given away.

Between 1998 and 2016, an unelected state board approved 99.95% of applications it received. Basically, if a corporation asked the board for an ITEP tax break, they got it. These special tax deals robbed local jurisdictions of funds for schools, police, roads and other public services.

Reforms

Locals Get a Say, Millions Flow Back to Communities

Our organizing efforts paid off in 2016 when the program was reformed to give local elected bodies the authority to determine whether to approve tax exemptions and on what terms.

ITEP reforms brought $16 billion in industrial property back onto the rolls, without sacrificing new industrial projects. In total, over $1 billion in tax revenue has flowed back to local governments since 2016.

Where We Are Now

Job Requirements and Elected Officials Cut from Decisions

What is at stake is whether ITEP operates as an incentive or as a gift. If a corporation gets a tax exemption, not to bring in a new plant or create jobs, but just as a public subsidy for routine capital investments that would have happened anyway, then the result is not economic development. It's the opposite.