 My name is Brandon Smith. I'm a director at the Greater Baton Rouge Industry Alliance. Last year I was here to recognize one of the East Baton Rouge Parish Schools for their participation in our Craft Workforce Development Awards. This year we've got four. Cabrea is a trade association of all the petrochemical and heavy industrial facilities up and down the industrial corridor. Our organization focuses on things like safety, health and security, craft workforce development, and public relations. I'm Daryl E. Pugh, and I am pleased to be in front of you. Shell has been awarding science grant scholarships, awards to the local teachers for the last six years. I represent Turner Industries. We employ across the Gulf Coast almost 10,000 of those folks are located in the Greater Baton Rouge area. On behalf of Turner, we ask you to support this motion. My name is Erin Schneider. I'm the operations manager at our Baton Rouge Plastics Plant with ExxonMobil. ExxonMobil can invest anywhere. You heard that. We need to compete in a global market. This ITEP just provides that stable tax base for ExxonMobil to continue to make investments like this in the future. My name is Nicola Borden. I'm speaking in opposition to the ITEP tax exemption on the agenda tonight. How long have we deprived our community of good opportunities in good schools so Exxon can start a project off the taxpayers' backs that will generate zero new jobs? The answer is we've done that for a little too long, but we can fix that tonight. If you are happy to give this exemption, do not come to us, the community, when you need to fill that hole and ask to raise our taxes. Good evening, board members. My name is Hayden Crockett, and I'm a seventh grader at Sherwood Middle Magnet. I'm here tonight to ask you not to approve this new exemption that ExxonMobil is requesting. The programs that I used and loved and learned from are funded by taxes, similar to the one that Exxon is asking for a break on. In the year of 2022, Exxon had a net profit of 55.7 billion dollars. That's billion with a B. Clark Green, teacher at West Elm Middle School. I'm here to speak on behalf of all the children Exxon won't ever employ. You're not giving me the resources I need to give them what they need, but you're about to give them a whole bunch of money they don't need. Exxon can afford to pay their staff a livable wage. This school board cannot. This is not about whether we support Exxon in this community. I listen very carefully to what the representatives of this company said, and what they did not say was that this company, that this project would not come if you don't approve this tax break. I've been attending the last three board meetings, and I've heard just like everybody else how tight money is. I'm hearing how we don't have money for buses. We don't have money for teacher raises. You know, respectfully, we cannot afford to gift them this money. Exxon Mobil has been in the area over 100 years. They've been involved with these exemptions since the 30s. Each of these exemptions come with the promise of increased revenue for this board and the other taxing entities. If we had received the revenue that had been promised, we would not be in a situation we're in today. The revenue that East Baton Rouge Parish lost to ITEP specifically to Exxon over the last six years. It looks like from 2016 to 2021, Exxon avoided paying $156 million in property taxes because of ITEP exemptions. That money could go a long way. The principles in my area, and especially those who have received support from Exxon, their statements were that the benefits that Exxon brings to their schools for their teachers, for their students is much greater than the tax exemption that is being asked. It wasn't until 2016 that a governor of Louisiana decided to give school boards the right to say yay or nay. The exemptions over half a century or more, we lost billions of dollars. So I think John Bell Edwards was throwing us a lifeline. I'm not going to support it. I'm not going to give money away that could benefit our schools and our children. There's been the suggestion that ExxonMobil has no choice but to stay here because of the river because we're willing to tolerate this type of industry. I think that the people in Detroit felt pretty secure that the auto industry was there forever and it wasn't. The motion carries. Thank you.