(The Center Square) – Last week, the Shreveport City Council moved to repeal a longstanding special downtown economic development tax district as it prepares to launch a more robust initiative tied to reviving the film and entertainment industry.
The city’s new initiative – approved by the council in March – will levy an additional 2% sales taxes and a 2% hotel occupancy tax on a larger geographic area of downtown. Tax revenue will finance projects that support film, television, entertainment and job creation tied to Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson’s $124 million development plans.
The council introduced an ordinance to repeal the Downtown Entertainment Economic Development Area fund, a tax financing district created in 1999 to fund redevelopment of the city’s riverfront area, which was largely unsuccessful, according to a review of city documents.
The sales tax, restricted to the central entertainment district and riverfront corridor, generated around $70,000 last year. For many years, it’s generated little to nothing for economic development and was mainly used to support maintenance costs and property taxes.
The outgoing economic development model used what’s known as a tax increment financing structure, or TIF, which captures sales tax revenue generated above a fixed base year level.
The downtown entertainment district and surrounding area have experienced years of declining business activity and occupancy rates.
The council will take up the repeal measure for final consideration at the June 9 regular meeting.
“We didn’t need two districts over the same piece of ground,” said Tom Dark, chief administrative officer for the city. “It’s being recreated in a slightly bigger form.”
The restructured re-development entity, created last fall, is called the Film and Entertainment Gateway Economic Development District.
The film gateway district will still capture TIF growth, plus the new sales and hotel occupancy taxes.
“The assumption is it will bring in more money because it is not dependent on TIF money,” Dark said.
Exactly how much more to expect is unknown, he said.
According to the ordinance, it also references collecting additional “state sales and use tax increments.” It’s unclear if the state has approved state sales tax increment participation.
The new taxes will apply only to purchases, dining and hotel stays within the expanded entertainment district, according to city officials.
Jackson plans to make Shreveport a hub for the film and entertainment industry through renovation of two city-owned properties that his company is leasing: Stageworks and the Millennium Studios campus, renamed G-Stage and G-Unit Studios, respectively. He also plans to build a “G-Dome,” a dome-style event venue his company will own.
