Shreveport mayor proposes police, firefighter raises using data center revenue

Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux announced a proposal to significantly increase pay for city police officers and firefighters, with the raises to be funded by new revenue streams from data center development. The plan, which is expected to be part of his 2027 budget proposal, was revealed during a Shreveport City Council meeting on Tuesday.

The mayor emphasized the importance of competitive compensation to recruit and retain qualified public safety personnel. The city anticipates new revenue from projects such as the STACK Infrastructure and Amazon Web Services (AWS) data center in west Shreveport, as well as a proposed rural Caddo Parish data center. This revenue includes permit fees, payments in lieu of sales taxes, and franchise payments from the sale of electric power to these facilities. Arceneaux stated that these revenue sources would make the pay increases sustainable long-term without impacting other city services, reserves, or requiring new taxes on citizens.

The proposal includes a 6% pay increase for all civil service fire department employees and police officers, along with retention stipends for police officers and corporals, educational incentive pay increases, and a boost to incentives for lateral transfers of POST-certified officers. The pay raises are slated to take effect on December 1.