The Jeff Davis Parish Police Jury on Wednesday voted 6-4 to deny a one-year industrial tax exemption request from Louisiana Spirits, which owns the Bayou Rum distillery in Lacassine.

The total exemption being requested from all applicable taxing jurisdictions, including the School Board and Police Jury, is expected to be 80 percent, or $3,600 for one year.

Both the School Board and Jeff Davis Parish Sheriff’s Office have approved granting the extension.

Voting to deny the request were police jurors Kori Myers, Donald Woods, Byron Buller, Butch Lafargue, Owen Cormier and Chad Talbot. Police jurors John Marceaux, Marcus Peterson, Tim McKnight and Wayne Fruge were in favor of granting the extension. Police jurors Melvin Adams and Curt Guillory were absent from the meeting.

After the meeting, Talbot said he was voting on behalf of his constituents, many who had voiced concerns for granting the extension. Bayou Rum is in Talbot’s district.

“My constituents were against it and I have to represent what they want,” Talbot said. “I am all for the expansion and increasing business, but at the end of the day, I have to vote for what my constituents want.”

“They do not feel they (Bayou Rum) should get an extension and are concerned because they pay taxes and they do not get a break, therefore they don’t feel Bayou Rum should get the extension.”

Marceaux, who serves as the Police Jury’s Finance Committee chairman, made the motion to grant the extension which was seconded by Peterson.

After the meeting, Marceaux said the company was making improvements in increasing employment and production which would benefit the parish.

“They were asking for an extension because they had targets to hire people and they missed it because of the effects of COVID, but they are trying to improve on that,” Marceaux said.

Police Jury President Steve Eastman said last week he felt the company was trying to do what it said it would do and has had a significant impact on the parish since opening its manufacturing facility.

Stoli Director of Manufacturing and Louisiana Spirits President Angelo Torre asked both the Police Jury and School Board to consider granting the extension earlier this month based on the company’s plan to continue to increase jobs and expand production with facility upgrades.

In addressing both the Police Jury and School Board, Torre said the company has doubled its number of employees, payroll and production after failing to meet ITEP requirements during the pandemic.

Torre said the company went from 19 employees with a payroll of $897,868 in 2021 to 33 employees and a $1.6 million payroll last year. Employment is projected to increase to 40 this year with an estimated $1.8 million payroll as production continues to increase, he said.

Production at the facility has also increased which has generated additional sales tax revenue. Monthly gift shops sales have also increased from $21,000 in 2021 to just over $40,000.

The company plans to invest $20 million in expansions over the next three years including upgrading its bottle line system to increase production from 300 bottles per hour to 3,600 bottles per hour. The warehouse and barrel storage areas will also be expanded to handle the increase in production.