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DeSoto Parish jurors hear report that parish generated nearly $198 million in severance taxes in FY2024; officials vow to press for revenue return
Summary
County officials reported that DeSoto Parish generated nearly $198 million in state severance-tax receipts in fiscal 2024 and said they will press state leaders to return more local revenue; jurors heard the figure, discussed impacts and pledged lobbyist support.
Jurors at a DeSoto Parish Police Jury meeting were told the parish produced nearly $198 million in severance-tax revenue in the state’s fiscal year 2024, a figure a staff member said represents roughly 24% of the state’s severance-tax collections for that year. The report was presented as part of the administrator’s remarks and followed a reference to Representative Larry Bagley’s legislative efforts to return more oil-and-gas severance revenue to producing parishes.
Why it matters: The jurors said the size of the parish’s severance-tax contribution underlines a perceived imbalance between resource extraction in DeSoto Parish and local investment. Officials said they plan to work with their lobbyists and state representatives during the next legislative session to seek changes that would allow more of that revenue to remain local.
Details: A staff speaker said the number—described in the meeting as “nearly $198,000,000”—is drawn from a public records response from the Louisiana Department of Revenue and represents severance-tax collections attributed to DeSoto Parish for the most recent audited fiscal year. The same speaker said that since 2002 the parish has generated more than $1.1 billion in severance tax revenue, and that about 99% of those severance receipts are attributable to gas production. The speaker also noted a recent change reducing the tax-free exploration period for gas from 24 months to 18 months.
Jurors and staff framed the issue as a policy priority: one juror said the parish needs to “start hollering up in [the] nationals to our federal agencies” and to press state officials so more revenue stays in the parish for local projects. The meeting recorded that Representative Larry Bagley has sponsored related legislation; a juror said the bill had unanimous passage in committee but had not been called on the Senate floor.
Context and next steps: County staff said they will continue to work with the county’s lobbyists and with state representatives to seek legislative or administrative remedies during the upcoming session. No formal vote or binding policy change occurred at the meeting; the jurors simply directed staff and lobbyists to pursue the matter further.
