The New Iberia City Council voted to annex property from the parish into city limits at Tuesday’s meeting, a move that Mayor Freddie DeCourt said will be critical for an unnamed development to come to the city. 

The ordinance, which was adopted unanimously, takes five pieces of land along west U.S. 90 and puts them as part of the city. 

“They are zoned in the parish right now,” legal counsel Jeff Simon said. “We got all the residents’ signatures on our petition, no one is being forced.”

DeCourt said he had a meeting with Parish President Larry Richard, who was also supportive of the idea. Following Tuesday’s vote, the Parish Council will also have to approve the transition. 

Following that, DeCourt said an economic development district will be formed, so there were still many steps to take in regards to the annexation process. 

“There are a lot of steps left, these are just the first steps,” he said. 

Mayor Pro Tem asked if the city could impose a tax incremental financing (TIF) district as part of the annexation, but DeCourt said that since the parish already maintains its own TIF in the area, the “extra layer” would start to make the commercial district uncompetitive. 

“If our unknown company does $20 million in sales, the city will collect about $1 million and the parish will collect $800,000,” DeCourt said. “We calculated the money, we’ve been working on the deal for many years and we are giving some incentives, and I really want these jobs (that will come to the area).”

“This is economic development at work,” he added.