PORT ALLEN — West Baton Rouge Parish is about to collect property taxes on more than a billion dollars in industrial equipment that has been tax-exempt for the past decade, and about half of that money is headed to the school system.

Parish Assessor Christopher Guerin told the West Baton Rouge School Board during its September 8 committee meeting that roughly $612 million in Louisiana Industrial Tax Exemption Program contracts will expire at the end of 2026, followed by another $803 million at the end of 2027.

Combined, that is approximately $1.4 billion in assets that will become taxable for the first time.

"We've kind of had that circled, bullseye, for several years," Guerin said, "just knowing that it was gonna be pretty impactful when the contracts expired and we got a chance to value them."

What ITEP is and why it matters now

ITEP is a state program that exempts large industrial manufacturers from local property taxes on major capital investments, typically for 10 years. When those exemptions expire, the parish picks up the assets on its tax rolls.

Guerin estimated the 2026 expirations alone will generate roughly $5 million in new property taxes parishwide. The 2027 expirations would add another $6.5 to $7 million. He cautioned that the equipment will be depreciated before it is assessed, so the parish will value those assets at about 55 percent of their original cost.

The school board collects close to 50 percent of all property taxes in the parish. Superintendent Dr. Chandler Smith and Business Manager Jared Gibbs confirmed that translates to roughly $2.5 million in new recurring revenue from the 2026 expirations and about $3.5 million from the 2027 batch.

"Those are recurring funds," Guerin said, though he noted the dollar amounts will diminish over time as depreciation increases on the aging equipment.

2028 could be even bigger

The 2028 numbers will be even more significant because the ITEP revenue will arrive on top of the parish's next property revaluation cycle, when all real estate values will be reassessed.

"Property values in West Baton Rouge Parish are very strong," Guerin said. "I'll just leave it at that."

Beyond 2027, additional ITEP contracts will continue to expire through 2031, but the amounts are much smaller. Guerin said the 2026 and 2027 expirations are by far the two most impactful years in the next five to six years.

Why the contracts are tapering off

Guerin said ITEP activity in West Baton Rouge Parish has slowed significantly since 2016, when then-Governor John Bel Edwards overhauled the program with stricter requirements. Fewer companies have applied since then.

Under the newer rules, when a company does receive an exemption, the parish can now collect taxes on 20 percent of the project's value from day one. Under the old rules, the full value was exempt for the entire 10-year period.

Guerin said Community Coffee and ExxonMobil have projects in the pipeline worth a combined $300 million that would be new ITEP contracts. Because those would fall under the updated rules, the parish would begin collecting some property tax on them immediately.

Tax base growing across the board

Even before the ITEP windfall, the parish's tax base is growing. Guerin reported that the total assessed value for 2026 is approximately $862 million, up about 3 percent from 2025.

One mill of property tax will generate roughly $803,000 this year, compared to about $780,000 last year. The parishwide millage rate for 2026 is 101.4 mills.

For the school board specifically, salary fund millages will generate about $19.2 million, the general fund about $12 million, bonds and interest about $8.5 million, and constitutional millages about $3.5 million in property taxes this year.

Sales tax trending up too

Gibbs reported that August sales tax collections showed a slight increase. He said the district should see sales tax revenue climb over the coming months and could approach its best collection year ever, set in 2024.

What happens next

The school board's regular meeting is tonight at 5 p.m. at the Board Room, Central Office, 3761 Rosedale Road in Port Allen. Items from the September 8 committee meeting, including bond refinancing, insurance renewals, and a personal leave policy update, are on the consent agenda.

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