Auto plant deal meets megafund legal limit
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A lesser-known legal clause governing state use of “mega-project” funds prevents the state from giving grants worth more than 30 percent of a project cost.
In the V-Vehicle Co. project announced Wednesday in Monroe, state officials approached but did not reach that threshold. The state’s investment of $69 million, which includes $67 million for site and infrastructure work and $2 million for training and hiring, equals 27.8 percent of the total announced initial cost of the car plant, which is $248 million.
State officials are expected to sign off officially on spending the money next week in a meeting of the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget, which must approve economic development deals that tap the state’s mega-project fund.
Earlier this year, the fund held more than $400 million. Recent projects — NASA’s Michoud facility, a Federal City project in Algiers, and a Farmerville poultry plant — reduced that to $186 million.
The Iberville Parish chemical plant project expected to be announced today would reduce that further, and economic development Secretary Stephen Moret has said that the proposed Nucor Corp. pig iron mill in St. James Parish — should the company go ahead with the initial $2.1 billion project in Louisiana — would deplete the megafund and even require new funds from the Legislature.
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