The Calcasieu Parish School Board approved a resolution establishing a new dedicated fund with a vote of 12-1 at the meeting on Tuesday.

The “Capital Improvement Fund” will pre-commit excess funds from sales and use tax revenues.

The fund will be divided into four allocations: 40 percent to salaries; 40 percent to capital improvement; 10 percent to the general fund; and another 10 percent for the general fund, but reserved for future hurricane cost share debt repayment.

From there, the monies held in the fund will be allocated for each bonding district based on student population. This system is modeled after the “$50 million plan” — dollars that were allocated from the general fund in 2018 for capital improvements.

Superintendent Jason VanMetre noted the 40 percent for salaries was already dedicated with the passage of two half-cent 10-year sales taxes that were approved by voters last weekend.

The establishment of the fund was motivated by increased economic activity and industrial construction projects in Calcasieu Parish.

Board member Dean Roberts, District 6, said he developed the idea alongside board member Eric Tarver, District 8. He called the fund a step toward proactivity in light of heightened industrial development on the

horizon, stating it should have “been done a while back.”

“It’s no secret. There’s projects out there. We don’t know the timing,” he said. “As an elected official, I like showing the voters, the taxpayers, our residents, our teachers, how we’re going to spend this money proactively before it gets here so we don’t have to sit up here and decide.”

VanMetre backed the fund because it preemptively breaks down how excess funds will be used.

“I am in full support of having a plan to spend money and love the fact that we’ve got money to spend in the future, monies that we have coming in above the budgeted amounts,” he explained. “So having something in place that lays out where those percentages are, I’m in favor of.”

Board member Russell Castille, District 12, asked how “increased economic activity” would be determined.

The approved resolution states the sales and use tax revenues that will go into the fund will be “computed by a method and in an amount to be determined at a later date,” and will be presented as a separate resolution to the board no later than June 30, 2025.

Chief Financial Officer Wilfred Bourne referred to legal hurdles clouding how CPSB will identify the tax revenues.

“The idea was to, for the ITEPs, the sales tax that was created for the construction of that project, if it happens, to isolate that,” he said. “The issue came legally with how to identify that.”

He reaffirmed that the board will be presented with a separate resolution on how revenue will be funneled into the fund after complications are ironed out, and clarified that ITEPs are based on property taxes. The funding for the Capital Improvement Fund will be determined by the sales tax amounts as a result of the projects.

“We calculate how much sales tax effects are going to take place if that project comes into existence.”

Board member Billy Breaux — the only board member in attendance to vote in opposition to the resolution — said he wanted to focus more on paying off debts.

“There’s nothing like being debt-free.”

He believes focusing solely on debt repayment (and putting remaining funds towards projects in smaller districts) will leave the district in better financial standing in the case of future storms. He referred to the way funds were used in from the $50 million allocated in 2018, stating “a lot of districts that didn’t touch or didn’t use any” of their allocated amounts.

Bourne said the debt is currently $123 million, said CFP, but following future FEMA reimbursements, the debt will sit at about $30 million.

This Capital Improvement Fund will be annually audited by CPSB’s internal auditor and the balance will be reported to the School Board Budget Committee during its meetings, the resolution stated.

Leadership appointments

The new board president and vice president were elected at the meeting on Tuesday. Board member Rev. Desmond Wallace, District 14, was elected board president with unanimous approval. Board member Aaron Natali, District 1, was unanimously elected vice-president by the board.