Together Baton Rouge Condemns Attack on New Zealand Mosque, Stands with Muslim Neighbors
Within hours of the shooting in New Zealand, diverse faith groups of Baton Rouge came together to support their Muslim neighbors. Bishop Michael Duca of the Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge sent a message of solidarity for both the victims of the attack and the larger Muslim community.
At Masjid Al-Rahman mosque, Rev. Fred Smith of Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church, and Together Baton Rouge, joined Imam Waiel Shihadeh to speak to hundreds of congregants at Friday services. “Even though our worship comes from a different perspective, it’s important for us to recognize the value of inclusion — the value of universal love — which is what is a part of our Christian faith,” Smith said.
[Photo Credit: Jacqueline DeRobertis, The Advocate]
Baton Rouge Faith Groups Show Support for Muslim Community in Wake of New Zealand Mosques Shootings, The Advocate [pdf]
Together Baton Rouge Praises 'Predictability of Standards' vs. 'Predictability of the Rubber-Stamp'
[Remarks below by Dianne Hanley of Together Baton Rouge, delivered at Baton Rouge City Hall]
After the organizing efforts of Together Baton Rouge led to the denial of Exxon Mobil’s tax exemption requests through the Industrial Tax Exemption Program by the Parish School Board, Exxon Mobil withdrew additional tax exemption requests the day before going before the Metro Council for approval. Leaders celebrated Exxon Mobil’s decision to pull the requests for tax exemptions since these did not conform to the clear standards for ITEP established by the city.
About this victory, which results in $6 Million for East Baton Rouge Parish, $2.9 Million for the school district and up to $3 Million for city government, Together BR leader Rev. Lee T. Wesley said that “local standards provide the thing that’s most important, both for our corporate partners and for our community, which is predictability, what’s new is that, for once, it’s not the predictability of a rubber-stamp; it’s the predictability of a genuine standard. That’s a positive and important change.”
At the same time, Together Baton Rouge publicly recognized and commended ExxonMobil’s investment in the community through education and other initiatives. “ExxonMobil is a major asset to our community with a local team that often goes above and beyond to support community efforts,” Together Baton Rouge stated.
[Photo Credit: Hilary Scheinuk, The Advocate]
Together Baton Rouge Celebrates Exxon Pulling Tax Incentive Request, The Advocate
Exxon drops tax break requests after being rejected by EBR school board, The Advocate
Together Baton Rouge" praises ExxonMobil's decision to withdraw ITEP request applications, BR Proud
Together Baton Rouge to address Exxon ITEP withdrawal, recognize company’s ‘vital role’, Business Report
Together Baton Rouge Discovers $400M Omission in Property Tax Records
After succeeding in changing how economic incentives are granted in Louisiana, and teaching local municipalities and school districts how much tax exemptions cost the people they serve, Together Baton Rouge (TBR) leaders identified another source of public revenue loss: property tax roll omissions.
Vigilant leaders of TBR discovered that approximately $400 million in taxable property (at four Baton Rouge facilities owned by ExxonMobil) appears to have been omitted from the preliminary 2018 property assessment rolls provided by the East Baton Rouge Parish Tax Assessor.
Left uncorrected, this apparent omission of taxable property would result in a one-year loss of approximately $5.9 million in revenue to East Baton Rouge Parish taxing bodies over the next fiscal year, including a loss of $2.7 million to East Baton Rouge Parish public schools in the current fiscal year (a year in which the school district is running a multi-million deficit).
Holding Their Feet to the Fire, Bayou Brief
Letter to Tax Assessor, Together Baton Rouge
Attachments, Together Baton Rouge
NCLI Reduces Shreveport City Tax Exemption to Calumet by 49%
After compelling testimony and intervention by leaders from Northern & Central Louisiana Interfaith, the Shreveport City Council reduced Calumet's tax exemption request by 49%. The original request was for $858,444.30 and the amount approved totaled $437,769.70.
Read moreTogether Baton Rouge & Louisiana Association of Educators Launch Campaign to Raise Teacher Wages
Braving torrential rains, hundreds of Louisiana Association of Educators and Together Baton Rouge leaders publicly launched, together, a public campaign to raise teacher pay (see photo above).
Read moreTogether Baton Rouge, Corporate Execs Face Off on Job Creation
As the Baton Rouge Industrial Tax Exemption Program (ITEP) Committee considers new rules for local application of industrial tax exemptions, they heard starkly different stories by citizens and corporate executives. The Baton Rouge Area Chamber of Commerce proposed dramatically looser rules on tax breaks, excusing some business from paying any taxes for five years, depending on the size of the corporation. Small business owners and citizen leaders of Together Baton Rouge called on the committee to ensure that tax incentives require job creation and serve in its designed capacity to incentivize (future) business investment, rather than pay for past expenditures.
The local nature of this debate is the result of Together Baton Rouge's efforts to de-centralize tax break decisions so that local entities sacrificing the tax revenue can weigh in on industrial tax break decisions.
Read moreNCLI Leads Second Local Rejection of Industrial Tax Break
For the first time in the history of Louisiana's Industrial Tax Exemption Program, a school board rejected an application in order to preserve public funding for its schools. Northern & Central Louisiana Interfaith (NCLI) leaders and Caddo Parish teachers spoke passionately at a Caddo Parish School Board meeting, asking board members to "put the students first." As a result, the Board voted to deny exemptions from school board taxes for Inferno Manufacturing, Inc.
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Together Louisiana Builds Power and Demands Transparency of State Economic Development
Baton Rouge, LA - From its earliest days, starting shortly after Hurricane Katrina, the network of religious congregations and citizen organizations that make up Together Louisiana asked:
Read moreFood Fight! Together Baton Rouge Calls for Fresh Food Funding
Pointing out that nearly 100,000 Baton Rouge residents live in food deserts, and that during fall elections mayoral and city council candidates publicly committed to investing $1.5 Million to attract grocery stores in the region, leaders of Together Baton Rouge are calling foul on the council's failure to invest any money in the effort for four straight years.
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