BATON ROUGE -- Every year, businesses in Louisiana pay property tax on their leftover inventory. It applies to stock that is sitting on shelves or in warehouses.

However, a constitutional amendment on the upcoming May 16 ballot could bring a change to that.

Amendment 4 is on the ballot and asks voters:

"Do you support an amendment to allow a parish to reduce or exempt property tax on property held as business inventory and to provide for the classification of Public Service Property?"

Basically, if passed, the parish would gain the option to reduce or eliminate those taxes locally.

"Amendment four would allow local governments, parish governments, to exempt more property than they already can from property taxes. This passed the legislature virtually unanimously last year," Political Analyst James Hartman said.

The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, LABI, supports the amendment, saying it will attract more businesses to the state.

"We know the inventory tax for decades has been a disincentive for existing businesses here to grow and expand. It's also been a hindrance for our state to attract and grow more businesses to Louisiana. As one of about seven states left in the country that still has a local inventory tax on business," Will Green with LABI said.

However, the Louisiana State Firemen's Association Board members voted unanimously against supporting it, saying it would adversely affect fire departments.

In a post on social media, the association urged voters to vote down the amendment, saying it could cause some departments to close their doors. While the association was unavailable for an interview, Hartman explained why fire departments could be against it.

"Fire Departments in Louisiana are almost exclusively funded by property taxes," Hartman said. "Right now we're standing outside of a very large shopping center. If this shopping center were exempt from paying property taxes when it was built, and the East Baton Rouge Parish Fire Department or St. George Fire Department weren't receiving those revenues, it would create a strain on those fire departments to provide services. The same could be said for law enforcement, public education, and any other taxing body that relies heavily or exclusively on property taxes."

If the vote passes, local governments have the option to opt into it or not. Green says the state does help if the local government decides to opt in. 

"They know their budgets. They ought to be able to make the decision on whether or not this is the right tax for them. They can totally repeal the inventory tax," Green said. "If they make that decision, the state provides the parish a runway of anywhere from $500,000 to $15 million, or the parishes can choose over time to stair-step down the inventory tax, then they still get that runway."

Green also added what else happens if they decide to opt in.

"If they do choose to go that route, it is a permanent exemption. The locals can't come back and say hey we thought about it, we actually want to come back and tax inventory again."

WBRZ also asked both Green and Hartman how small businesses would be affected.

"If you're a small business and you're in retail, you're a car dealer, you hold any inventory for sale, the inventory tax is taxed on you without regard for any profit. It's taxed on you month over month. It's a tax just for holding inventory in Louisiana. It's why so many states have gotten rid of it," Green said.

Hartman says this amendment would benefit large businesses more than small businesses.