A constitutional amendment on the November ballot in Louisiana, if passed by voters, would transfer millions of dollars in revenue from oil and gas production taxes from the state to parishes where the energy was produced.
Currently, 80% of the oil and gas production revenues go to the state with 20% to producing parishes — Louisiana’s equivalent of counties — up to $850,000 per parish per year.
Constitutional Amendment 2, sponsored by Rep. Rick Gallot, D-Ruston, and passed by the 2009 Legislature, would raise the annual per-parish limit to $1.85 million in the first fiscal year after total revenue from the state tax tops 2009’s $870.3 million.
The Legislative Fiscal Office said it does not expect the 2009 total to be attained before 2015.
The proposal would cost the state $35 million in revenues for the first year and $60 million in the second year, according to LFO economists.
A parish could receive up to $2.85 million in the second fiscal year. Increases in allocations after the first two years would be based on inflation.
At least half of the additional money received by a parish must be dedicated to road and infrastructure projects.
Louisiana’s constitution sets a limit of $850,000 on what each parish can receive from the taxes. But with an adjustment for inflation, they currently receive around $900,000 a year.
The proposal also would transfer $10 million of the annual revenues now going to the state to an independent agency for improvements and conservation within the Atchafalaya River Basin.
