SB Proposes New Millage
BOBBY ARDOIN
St. Landry Now.com Editor
St. Landry Parish School Superintendent Milton Batiste III is hoping to generate additional funding that offsets mounting District financial difficulties by calling a property millage increase election scheduled for 2026.
School Board members approved the election plan during a special meeting last week, but so far they have provided little discussion on the matter.
Batiste briefly addressed the issue again on Thursday night during a regular meeting in his superintendent’s message.
The St. Landry School District, according to Batiste, has the fourth lowest millage rate statewide (20.39 mills), an amount that Batiste said has not changed since it was approved by voters in 1986.
At this point Batiste is proposing an increase of about “9.8 or 9.9 mills,” that he thinks will help the District plagued by reduced state funding loss due to declining enrollment parishwide.
The parishwide sales taxes that support the District are up by only 1.30 percent over the same period last year and some students that might have normally enrolled at District schools are attending three charter schools in Opelousas and another in Sunset.
St. Landry is expected to experience an operating fund deficit of about $4.9 million at the end of 2026 and an overall net less of $14 million due to the necessity of paying off a 10-year bond.
Batiste said the millage increase proposal is “a reasonable amount” and he will provide transparency about what areas the new millage would effect if approved by voters.
“What we want to do is create a sustainable funding stream to address our critical needs areas in facilities, safety and staff compensation,” Batiste told St. Landry Now.com during an interview that followed a series of committee meetings.
If the millage passes, the millage increase would provide permanent employee salary increases of at least $2,000 annually, according to Batiste.
School safety would provide upgrades such as metal detectors, additional fencing, new cameras and resource officers, while support services would provide school counselors and school nurses.
New outdoor tracks would be built and athletic facility renovations would be made at all high schools. The Magnet Academy For The Cultural Arts would get a new auditorium and new activity buses could be purchased.
In 2022 parish voters rejected a District-wide millage increase proposal that would have nearly doubled the millage amount that property owners currently pay.
