Recommendations to seat the Industrial Development Bond Board created for the City of Minden to offer business incentives is expected to go before the city council in June.
Minden Economic Development Director James Graham says five people will be recommended to fill these seats.
The members that will serve will be recommended by Mayor Tommy Davis and seated upon approval of the council. Graham says the five members have to meet certain qualifications to sit on the board.
The board members must live within the city limits of Minden or within five miles of its corporate limits, and they must have business experience.
“They have to have a general understanding of business,” Graham said. “They need to have an understanding of organizational development and/or management, profit or nonprofit.”
They must also have general knowledge of profit or nonprofit real estate development.
The industrial development board will offer the Payment In Lieu of Taxes incentive as well as other financing incentives to help medium to large-sized businesses, he said.
“It’s for the PILOT incentive, and it also has a business financing component for taxable bonds or tax exempt bonds,” he said. “If a sizeable company has a project and wants to move to Minden, and they need an incentive or some type of way to close a financing gap in their project, the IDB board could actually float a bond.”
It could be tax exempt from federal taxes, he added.
While the board will have the authority to acquire a bond for a company, it will be the company that actually incurs the debt.
“Only IDBs can float these kinds of bonds,” he said. “The city council cannot. The city council can incur certain types of bonds, but IDBs can only float bonds for a variety of business types, not only for manufacturing, but for commercial, certain service industries, wholesale distribution, just to name a few. It represents a very powerful, low cost source of funding.”
He explained the board is sanctioned by the State of Louisiana; Louisiana law provides for industrial development boards such as this one for the purpose of offering tax incentives to attract new businesses and assist existing ones.
“We have to go by state law to establish the IDB, and that’s what we’re doing,” he said.
This board is only for businesses in the City of Minden or those looking to locate to the city.
The council will meet at 7 p.m., Monday, June 6, in council chambers at Minden City Hall.
