Jeff Davis getting two new economic districts

There will be two new economic development districts within Jeff Davis Parish collecting additional sales taxes in designated zones.

The Jeff Davis Parish Police Jury on Wednesday revised plans for the districts, designating parcels of land to be included in Economic Development District No. 1 in the Iowa and Lacassine area and Economic Development District No. 2 in the Roanoke area. The districts encompass areas along the Interstate 10 and U.S. 165 corridor.

“We revised them to reflect what was the original intent of the economic development district,” Police Jury President Steve Eastman said. “What was discussed and voted on (earlier this year) was that we had picked those parcels in and around the Lacassine-Iowa area and Roanoke and we had specifically said exempting existing businesses. Inadvertently the parcel numbers of some of the existing businesses were left in, while some were taken out like they were supposed to.”

The issue was caught when the police jury began taking steps to implement the collection of an additional two-percent sales tax from the sale of goods and services within the designated zones. The sales tax revenues will be used to support infrastructure improvements for commercial development and help spur economic growth within the districts.

Collection of the taxes will not begin until later this year.

“Those areas are exits along the interstate which we see as potential for growth and new businesses,” Eastman said. “What is happening in Lacassine, there is a travel plaza coming up there. That’s in part of that district. There’s two travel centers proposed in Roanoke – one north of the interstate and one south of the interstate. They are both in that economic district there.”

Similar economic development districts were also established in Jennings and Welsh earlier this year to help fund infrastructure improvements for new businesses.