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Louisiana is considering its first statewide property valuation standards for data centers as billions of dollars in technology investment flow into the state, The Center Square reports.
The proposal, commissioned by the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, would establish uniform guidelines for valuing servers, storage systems, networking equipment and the electrical and cooling infrastructure that supports them, providing greater consistency for companies and parish assessors.
Under the proposal, computing equipment would be assigned a three-year economic life to reflect the rapid pace of technological obsolescence, while electrical and cooling infrastructure would have an eight-year economic life. Although lower valuations could reduce taxable property values, proponents say the goal is to more accurately reflect how quickly computing technology loses economic value rather than lower tax burdens.
The proposal would not affect existing payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreements, such as Meta’s Richland Parish artificial intelligence data center, but it could influence future projects, future negotiations and facilities operating outside those agreements.
Louisiana Economic Development also argues that technology companies’ ongoing equipment upgrades could replenish the property tax base over time, though proposal author Bob Adair notes that future replacement investments cannot be assumed. The proposal remains in the early stages of the Louisiana Tax Commission’s rulemaking process.
