ST. FRANCISVILLE —Construction at the Hut 8 AI data center site in St. Francisville has moved quickly, and money from the project is already starting to reach local government offices.

According to the West Feliciana Parish assessor, the total value of the Hut 8 project, including land, movables and machinery, is $10 billion.

Of that, $7.5 billion is taxable. Hut 8 is leasing the property it is building on from an industrial development board made up of Superintendent Hollis Milton, Sheriff Brian Spillman, and Councilman Clay Pinson. Because of how the 'Payment In Lieu Of Taxes' (PILOT) program is structured, that means nearly $100 million each year could be split between the sheriff's office, school board and parish government.

In May, Hut 8 agreed to make a $10 million prepayment. The parish will have to pay that back once the first full payment from the tech company comes in.

Of that $10 million, $5.3 million went to the school board, $3.9 million went to the parish government and $800,000 went to the sheriff's office. All three entities used the money for bonuses for current employees.

The sheriff's office's 75 employees will each receive $8,000, split into two payments. School system employees got $7,000 each.

West Feliciana Sheriff Brian Spillman said he agreed to take the smaller share.

"The sheriff's office received 800k, which is the smaller of the amounts, but my only need at the time was a way to improve the retention and recruitment efforts of my office, so I wanted to take care of my employees first before any more money came in," Spillman said.

The parish plans to put some of its nearly $4 million toward fixing roads. Council member John Thompson explained the need.

"Our parish roads are in a terrible situation and with all the rain, because it's been raining up here for the last two months and we've got more potholes than you can shake a stick at," Thompson said.

Last year, when the pilot program was first discussed, Spillman told WBRZ he planned to use his share of the money to build a new jail.

"The jail construction is basically the responsibility of parish government according to state law, but we have reached an agreement with parish government officials that we will take on the responsibility," Spillman said. "We will build the jail and we will work out an agreement on maintenance and things where their responsibilities lie. We will work out an agreement on how that is going to work."

Parish President Kenny Havard says a $60 million payment is expected in the summer of next year, with the rest of the $100 million coming in 2028.