A parish-wide election to collect an additional penny in sales tax for a new airport terminal is on Tuesday’s Lafayette City-Parish Council agenda.
In April, the council gave the Dec. 6 special election preliminary approval. The council is set Tuesday to finalize the election call. The State Bond Commission also needs to give its nod of approval.
The Lafayette Regional Airport is asking voters parishwide to approve the additional one-cent tax on all sales in the parish, except food and prescription medication. If approved, it would be collected for eight months in 2015, from April 1 through Nov. 30, and generate about $37 million.
The Airport Commission plans to self-finance about $30 million and seek state and federal grants to reach the estimated $90 million needed for the project.
The tax would be used to build a new airport terminal, additional parking and additional aircraft ramp space.
The new terminal as proposed would measure about 86,000 square feet, about 40 percent larger than the existing terminal, and would be reconfigured on the property to allow for easy expansion and to accommodate more and larger aircraft, a report by airport design and engineering firm URS Corp. states.
Plans call for at least five aircraft gates along with a larger passenger screening area, a larger secure seating area for waiting on flights and a larger passenger greeting area.
Airport officials say the facility is at capacity now. Last year, more than 230,000 passengers flew in or out of the airport, up from 159,000 in 2002.
A demand forecast conducted for the airport predicted a 50 percent increase in passengers between 2008 and 2025, when 653,000 passengers are expected to use Lafayette Regional Airport, Aviation Director Greg Roberts has said.
Source: http://www.theadvertiser.com
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