$150,000 a Year for Calcasieu Schools. Seven Board Members Wouldn’t Sign.

CALCASIEU PARISH — Most schools could find a use for another dollar. Seven Calcasieu School Board members still declined a solar developer’s offer of $150,000 a year.

The sticking point was the agreement attached to the money.

On October 6, the board split 7–7 over a proposed funding contract with Persimmon Gulch Solar, LLC. One member was absent. The motion failed, according to the American Press.

The proposed payments would benefit four DeQuincy schools and four Moss Bluff-area schools, beginning if the project received approval and started operating. Payments would increase 30% every ten years.

Supporters had a practical argument: put the obligation in writing so a future owner could not simply abandon it. Vice President Tony O’Banion defended that protection.

Billy Breaux and Glenda Gay were among those unwilling to sign. Gay supported additional school funding but expressed discomfort with the contract. Superintendent Jason VanMetre said the district had added language specifying that donations would not reduce the developer’s taxes. American Press reporting, republished by Solar Now⁠

Schools are only part of the offer

Orion Renewable Energy Group’s current website says Persimmon has signed agreements promising Ward 1 and Ward 6 fire services $125,000 each at construction start and $100,000 each annually. Ward 6 Recreation would receive $500,000 initially and $100,000 annually.

That totals $750,000 upfront and $300,000 a year, separate from the proposed school agreement.

Orion also advertises voluntary payments to eligible neighboring residences. It says participants assume no obligations and payments remain with the property after a sale. The executed agreements were not reviewed for this story. Persimmon website⁠

A community check is not a lower tax bill

Police Juror Darby Quinn raised another issue in October 3 reporting: parish staff had not received documentation supporting advertised property-tax reductions of approximately 22% in Ward 1 and 27% in Ward 6. American Press reporting⁠

Orion’s current website projects approximately $26 million in average annual local property taxes. That revenue projection does not, by itself, establish what an individual homeowner would save.

What happens when the owner changes?

The school debate exposed the question running beneath every promised benefit: who must pay, who can enforce payment and what happens after a sale or shutdown?

Those answers belong in the agreements.

For families, the benefits are different. A school receives funding. A nearby homeowner may receive a payment. Public agencies receive taxes. Drainage, screening and cleanup require their own protections.

The money deserves consideration. So does the fine print. Before officials ask residents to judge the bargain, they should make that bargain available to read.