VIDALIA — The Concordia Parish Police Jury voted unanimously Monday to sign a letter of support for Delta Oil Tools in order for the company to apply for state incentives.

Delta Oil Tools, which has operated from Vidalia since 2003 and serves oil companies in six states, hired five new employees recently as a part of a new project.

When anticipating how much the new hires would cost, Concordia Economic Industrial Development District Director Heather Malone said the company originally anticipated spending approximately $210,000. The five positions, however, have an average salary of $50,000, which put the company over the projection.

“What I’m asking for today is simply a letter of support from the jury,” Malone said Monday in her presentation to the police jury. “It’s not going to cost you anything. We don’t need it but it makes our application look better.”

Malone said if the company meets the guidelines, it should receive the incentives.

“When you’ve done the work, you file a full application to the state for the incentive,” Malone said. “It just has to go through all the red tape.”

The application is sent to Louisiana Economic Development. If approved, the applications go to the Louisiana Board of Commerce and Industry for final consideration and approval.

Two primary incentive options exist for which Delta Oil Tools qualifies, Malone said. A one-time tax credit of $3,500 or a $1,000 job tax credit per new job that qualifies could be available to the company.

Malone said the police jury could approve a rebate on sales and use tax, but only if those taxes are not bonded.

“In addition to that, they could receive a rebate on their sales and use tax for anything purchased because of that project,” she said.

“Typically, the locals have their sales taxes bonded,” Malone said. “Then the company can choose instead of that rebate, a 1.5-percent investment tax credit. They feel like, based on that project, they could benefit from the other options as opposed to the sales tax.”

In the meeting, Joe Parker, who represents District 1, asked Malone if the request would affect the police jury in any way. Malone said it would not.

“Really, all we’re asking for at the local level is that the local authority is in support of this business and its growth,” she said.