Airport tax election gets council approval

LAFAYETTE, La. -- One hurdle remains before finalization of a Dec. 6 sales tax election for Lafayette Regional Airport.

The Advertiser reports (http://bit.ly/1oF2RNR ) the Lafayette City-Parish Council voted 7-1 Tuesday to call the election asking voters to approve a 1-cent sales tax parish-wide to help pay for a new airport terminal and parking lot.

The next and final step to calling the election is to get approval from the State Bond Commission in August or September, Airport Commission Chairman Matt Cruse said. There's no reason to expect the bond commission won't approve the measure, he said.

Voters will be asked to approve a 1-cent sales tax on all sales in the parish except food and prescription medication. The tax would be collected from April 1, 2015, through Nov. 30, 2015.

In most parts of Lafayette Parish, purchasers pay between 8 and 9 cents in sales tax for every dollar they spend. They would pay a penny more if the tax passes.

Based on 2013 sales tax collections, the eight-month 1-cent sales tax is expected to generate $37 million toward the $90 million cost of the project, Cruse said. The Airport Commission would use existing funds and seek state and federal funds to cover the rest of the cost.

Asked following the meeting why the commission didn't ask to collect the tax for a full year, which would generate about $54 million, Cruse said, "We didn't feel as a commission it was necessary" based on bonding capacity and other potential funding sources.

If voters approve the tax in December, the commission will use 2015 to get close to finalizing construction plans and bidding the project, Cruse said. He expects construction to begin in 2016 and take about 2½ years, for a total of three to four years.

The new facility could be in operation in 2018, Cruse said.

The current terminal was built 55 years ago and remodeled 25 years ago. The terminal is no longer adequate to support the volume of passengers it currently serves let alone a 40 percent increase in usage forecast for the next 10 years, Cruse said.