The Greater Iberia Chamber of Commerce
Legislative Affairs Committee members met on
February 12 with various local officials to
learn how the infrastructure the GICC has
long sought for the local economy may become
a  reality.  

Officials briefed the board on how the
proposed TIF districts within the greater
Iberia area will bring that infrastructure
and other needed improvements to entice new
business to the Iberia area.

“As a service to our members, we want to
understand this proposal fully so that we can
communicate exactly what the TIF districts
will do for the greater Iberia area,” said
Julie Rosenzweig, GICC Board of Directors
member and Legislative Affairs Committee
Co-Chairman.

The city and parish will be able to put TIF
funds to an extensive array of uses,
including construction of buildings,
structures, works utilities, or fixtures;
property acquisition costs; on- and off-site
preparation costs for developed and
undeveloped land; costs of remodeling
existing buildings, improvements, and
fixtures; funding studies of economic
development plans; and professional services
costs.

Representatives from the City of New Iberia,
the Iberia Parish Council, the Iberia
Development Foundation, and Iberia Economic
Development Authority explained to GICC board
members what the city and parish need to do
to make this happen.

Tax Increment Financing, or TIF, was created
by state law to give municipalities an option
to gain funds needed to construct
infrastructure necessary to lure new business
to the area.  Any local governmental
subdivision may pass an ordinance
establishing an economic development
district, which designates the boundaries of
the district, once notice of the proposed
ordinance has been published locally.  Once
the ordinance passes, that local government
subdivision becomes the governing authority
of the district.

Both the parish and city TIF districts have
already jumped these hurdles.  Iberia Parish
has drawn a TIF district that stretches along
LA Hwy 90 from the St. Mary Parish line to
the St. Martin Parish line.  The City of New
Iberia has drawn three smaller TIF districts,
one near LA Hwy 182 on the West End of town,
one near the intersection of LA Hwy 14 and
Hwy 90, and one encompassing the Spanishtown
development.

Now, both the city and parish face the task
of determining precisely which method they
will employ to raise funds for
infrastructure.  Both entities stressed to
GICC members that they have yet to reach a
final decision on exactly which method they
will use, and both stated that a sales tax
increment financing option would be a last
resort.

Probably the most enticing aspect of the TIF
concept is that the state will match whatever
funds are raised by the TIF district up to a
$10 million cap.  The parish and the city
indicated that they both plan to approach the
legislature during this spring’s session to
request matching funds.  By the time of this
request, both entities plan to have a better
idea of how their TIF districts will be
funded and precisely which development
projects will be made priorities.

“The GICC is eager to do all it can to
support this TIF measure before the
legislature this session,” said
Rosenzweig.  “This is the best way for the
greater Iberia area to get the infrastructure
it needs to attract the businesses we see
locating elsewhere.  They would come here,
and we believe they will come here, when we
have the infrastructure they need already in
place.”