The Calcasieu Parish School Board approved an Industrial Tax Exemption Program (ITEP) application for Lotte Chemical on Tuesday.

Lotte Chemical, a Westlake facility that produces MonoEthylene Glycol, applied for a 10-year, 80 percent exemption for facility additions.

Robert Wege of Summit Credits, representing Lotte Chemical, said the application is for the final phase of a wastewater treatment process that was installed at the facility, which included “tanks, pumps, and valves.” He called the additions a “direct investment” into the facility that “do bring new revenue to the parish in the way of sales tax.” He also stated the abatements are not fully representative of the additions’ value.

The additions are representative of nearly $2 million in investments, according to application documents

The total of forgone revenue for 10 years is $43,408 for CPSB, and $228,657 for all taxing bodies. The generated property tax revenue over 20 years is estimated to be $34,104 for CPSB.

The project created two direct jobs with a payroll of $120,000.

Renee Rule spoke at the meeting to represent the Calcasieu Association of Educators. While she believes that “not all ITEPs are bad,” she called for the board to use discretion when approving applications, stating that the forgone property taxes ITEPs provide restrict CPSB’s financial flexibility.

“When we provide ITEPs that are not beneficial to us, it limits our budget to what we can do now. We know that’s true because we have, for several years, not been able to absorb the cost of rising insurance premiums to employers, while also not being able to afford raises.

“We have to consider what ITEP costs us. When we cannot pay educators, when we cannot fund education, we are not just hurting educators. We are not just hurting local educational agencies. We are hurting children,” she added later.

Board member Dean Roberts, District 6, said the revenue created from the projects, despite abatements, will continue to provide the district opportunities “unlike we’ve ever seen.”

“If you look at the big picture of industry and how it impacts Southwest Louisiana, whether you like it or not … we thrive off industry.”

The application was approved with a split vote.

2018 ITEP Rules

Gov. Jeff Landry signed an executive order last year that pulled back on ITEP requirements instituted under the administration of former Gov. John Bel Edwards and altered the ITEP application approval process.

Instead of presenting ITEPs to several boards for approval, ITEPs submitted after the executive order are approved or denied by a consolidated board of representatives from each governing body in a parish, including the school board.

But ITEPs for projects that began before the executive order are still subject to 2018 ITEP rules. Since the Lotte Chemical  ITEP approved on Tuesday is for an expansion of an existing project, it has to be approved individually, said CPSB Chief Financial Officer Wilfred Bourne.