The Lafayette City Council approved an ordinance that creates a new subdistrict that will charge customers at Lafayette Buc-ee's an extra penny in sales tax.
The hope is that the beloved traveler's stop will build a new location just off Interstate 10 near the Louisiana Avenue exit.
The plan for the new subdistrict is to charge the extra penny only on sales at the store. All council members who were present Tuesday voted to create it, after hearing from Mandi Mitchell of LEDA.
When we first reported on the plan, Mitchell told us that the development is expected to create a "significant" number of jobs, both indirect and direct. She said it's expected to create at least 150 jobs.
At Tuesday's city council meeting, Councilman Kenneth Boudreaux of District 5 emphasized the impact the business will have on Lafayette, calling it, "immeasurable."
"This is one of the greatest things that would happen to Lafayette in quite some time," Boudreaux said.
There already is a taxing district in the area, which collects a penny in sales tax, which generates around $1.5 million annually. We checked with LCG and learned that proceeds have recently been used to pay incentives to the company that built the RaceTrac gas station there.
A similar plan would happen for Buc-ees, with the company receiving a 2 percent sales tax rebate for 20 years and a $3.5 million grant to offset the planned $12.5 million in infrastructure upgrades.
