JENNINGS — The Jeff Davis Parish Police Jury voted 7-1 Wednesday to adopt a resolution to support an industrial tax exemption to a local metal galvanizing facility near Jennings.

The Police Jury backed the request from Metalplate Galvanizing to participate in the state’s Industrial Tax Exemption Program (ITEP), which provides economic tax incentives for manufacturers who commit to jobs and payroll.

The Louisiana Board of Commerce and Industry voted to approve the ITEP application in September.

Police jurors Kori Myers, Melvin Adams, Curt Guillory, Byron Buller, Butch Lafargue, Owen Cormier and Chad Talbot voted to grant the exemption application. Police jurors Donald Woods, Marcus Peterson, Tim McKnight, Wayne Fruge, were absent from the vote.

John Marceaux, the lone dissenter in the vote, explained his decision after the meeting.

“It was my understanding that ITEP was to lure a business to our area and once that business is here, I have come to the opinion that they should carry their weight,” Marceaux said. “I am certainly all in agreement of it being used to get those businesses here, but once those businesses are here I am not in favor of continually granting them tax exemptions every time they expand.”

Jeff Davis Parish Economic Development President and CEO Creed Romano said the industrial tax exemption can be used as an incentive to get new companies to locate, but can also be used to help existing companies expand their operations, adding new payroll and new jobs.

Romano asked the police jury to give their blessing to Metalplate Galvanizing’s ITEP application.

“We know Metalplate Galvanizing has been a wonderful citizen of this parish and we thank them for locating here,” Romano said.

Metalplate Galvanizing built a 50,000-square-foot, $9.75 million facility, off Farm Supply Road and U.S. 90, in 2015. It provides hot-dip galvanizing products to steel, petrochemical and other industries to protect metal from corrosion.

Plant Manager Jeff Mundy said the company is seeking a $10,700 tax break to offset the cost of adding a finishing area for solar-related products which are distributed all over the United States. Demand for the products is expected to grow over the next 10 years, he said.

The company has 140 employees and plans to add 28 new full-time jobs with the expansion. About 70 percent of the employees are Jeff Davis Parish residents, according to Mundy.

The existing payroll is $4 million. The additional 28 new jobs will add another $2 million to the payroll resulting in an annual total payroll of over $6 million.

Similar tax breaks have been granted in the past for the Bayou Rum distillery and the Zagis USA textile mill, both located in Lacassine.