(The Center Square) − West Feliciana Parish Schools could eventually receive tens of millions of dollars a year from the massive Hut 8 data center project, giving the small school district an unusual opportunity to raise salaries, expand career programs, improve facilities and potentially cut local taxes at the same time.
Superintendent Hollis Milton said the district expects to receive roughly one-third of future payments made through the parish’s agreement with Hut 8, although the final amount will depend on how quickly the project is completed and assessed.
Initial estimates have put total annual payments from the project at as much as $90 million, which could translate to around $30 million for the school system.
Milton repeatedly cautioned that the figure remains only an estimate.
“We’ve got to let the project play out,” he said. “But we feel confident that the money is going to be very significant at the end of the day.”
The potential scale is substantial for West Feliciana.
Milton said the school system operates on a budget of roughly $45 million. An additional $30 million would amount to about two-thirds of that existing budget.
The district has already identified several priorities for the money.
Milton said one of the biggest would be making West Feliciana one of Louisiana’s highest-paying school systems, with additional revenue directed toward permanent salary increases designed to recruit and retain teachers and other employees.
The district also plans to expand career and technical education.
West Feliciana currently offers programs including welding, carpentry, electrical work and ProStart at its career and technical center. Milton said the district is considering adding HVAC instruction and other programs as more money becomes available.
Additional revenue could also go toward tutoring, gifted and talented programs, athletics, arts programs and facility improvements.
“We still want to get better,” Milton said. “Having more dollars allows us to look at our priorities of what we see is best for our kids and meets the future needs and what skills they’re going to need.”
Perhaps more unusually, Milton said the district hopes the data center revenue could eventually allow it to reduce taxes while still increasing spending on employees and students.
“We have the opportunity to provide salary increases, do more for students, and at the same time reduce taxes,” he said. “Rarely do you hear, ‘You’re going to get better government services, and we’re going to do it with less taxes."”
The district also intends to put some of the money into its fund balance to protect against future downturns and provide long-term stability.
The money comes through a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes arrangement involving Hut 8 and the West Feliciana Industrial Development Board.
Hut 8 made a $10 million upfront payment that was divided among local government entities. Milton said the school system received about $5.4 million, or 54% of the initial payment.
Future payments are expected to be divided more evenly, with roughly one-third each going to the school system, sheriff and parish government.
The project is part of a wave of data center investments landing across Louisiana as artificial intelligence drives demand for computing power.
Those developments have also generated opposition and questions over their effects on electricity, water systems and surrounding communities.
Milton said West Feliciana residents have raised what he called legitimate concerns about water use, noise, light pollution and quality of life.
But he said Hut 8 has so far worked closely with local officials and residents, including investing millions of dollars in local water infrastructure and designing the facility around a closed-loop water system.
“They have been willing to come out and communicate with our public over and over again,” Milton said.
For the school district, however, the long-term financial implications could be unusually large.
Milton said the data center could give West Feliciana the ability to simultaneously raise employee pay, expand student programs, upgrade buildings, reduce taxes and increase its savings – choices that most school systems rarely get to make at the same time.
“I think the numbers are going to come out and be significant and be transformative for our community,” Milton said.
