New state deal with CenturyLink offers $17.5M in tax incentives, removes underperformance penalties

Louisiana's new deal with CenturyLink offers the company $17.5 million in tax dollars and strips away penalties if it doesn't meet payroll targets in a continuing, decade-old effort to keep one of Louisiana’s two Fortune 500 headquarters in-state through 2025.

The agreement, struck by Gov. John Bel Edwards' administration well in advance of a 2020 expiration of an agreement the company was operating under, represents the third time in the past decade the state has offered tax incentives to the company in exchange for keeping its headquarters in Monroe. Announcing the deal Tuesday, Edwards lauded the company’s “uniquely Louisiana story” and said the new agreement will continue driving the state’s tech economy.

The Edwards administration’s deal with the telecommunications giant features a shift in how the state treats the company. Previously, CenturyLink was subject to penalties if it failed to meet payroll targets. That has changed.

Matthew Block, the Edwards administration’s general counsel, said the deal offers a sliding scale of tax benefits based on the company’s payroll, with no penalties for underperformance.

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