2024 Tax Renewal Overview

Investing in Foundations for the Future

The Calcasieu Parish School Board has a crucial issue before us on Saturday, December 7, with one 10-year property tax renewal and two 10-year sales tax renewals on the election ballot parishwide. Representing nearly $83 million in annual operating revenues, the renewals are essential to the overall long-term future of the Calcasieu Parish School Board.

Taxes are generally approved for a specified period of time before going back to the voters for reauthorization. Those reauthorizations are called “renewals,” as written on actual ballots for the voters to consider. The Calcasieu Parish School Board sales taxes on the December 7 election date are 10-year tax renewals that were approved last in May 2014 and May 2015 and expire in 2025.

The nearly $83 million per year generated by these three renewable taxes plays a vital role in the operations of the school system and truly reaches into the cost of every employee’s salary and every child’s education. Both of the ½ cent sales taxes and the 3.50 mill property tax presented for renewal are used for operational expenses in the General Fund, the Calcasieu Parish School Board’s operating account. In addition to over 75% of the property tax renewal being dedicated to salaries and benefits, both of the ½ cent sales tax renewals are dedicated only to salaries and benefits. 

While our school system has certainly experienced challenges in the last several years with COVID-19 and natural disasters, we have always continued to focus clearly on the most important aspect of education: the relationship between teachers and students. In fact, greater than 75% of our operating budget is spent on salaries and benefits. With another 3.9% spent on maintenance, 1.6% on materials, equipment and textbooks, and 2.4% on transportation, it becomes clear how crucial these two tax renewals are to continue to provide our current levels of service.