(The Center Square) – Shreveport is poised to add a 2% sales tax and 2% hotel occupancy tax in the city’s new Film and Entertainment Gateway Economic Development District.
The city council approved a resolution on Monday to impose new taxes within the downtown entertainment district. Final approval is scheduled for March 24, and if approved, the measure could take effect in July.
The council established the film and entertainment district last fall. Tax revenues collected within the area will finance projects that support film, television, entertainment and job creation.
The city’s revitalization effort in the district is closely aligned with Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson’s $124 million plan to make Shreveport a hub for the film and entertainment industry. Jackson plans to renovate two city-owned properties that his company, G-Unit, 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.
City officials said the additional sales and hotel taxes will apply only to purchases, dining and hotel stays within the entertainment district.
The district’s geographic boundaries were not made available during Monday’s action but previous reporting indicates it stretches from G-Unit Studios to Commerce Street, including areas of the Red River District and G-Stage.
Casinos and other businesses appear to be outside the district’s official boundaries.
The combined state and local sales tax rate for the greater downtown area is currently 9.6%. When sales taxes and hotel occupancy taxes are combined, the total tax rate on an overnight hotel stay rises to 15.6%, according to the Louisiana Association of Tax Administrators.
Adding the 2% sales tax rate within the new downtown economic development zone would increase the combined sales tax rate to 11.6%. Hotel occupancy rates would climb to 17.6%.
Shreveport leaders hope to revitalize downtown and boost the local film, television and entertainment economy. Jackson’s G‑Unit Film & Television Louisiana plans to produce films and host large-scale entertainment productions.
