Today, Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser and the Louisiana Office of Tourism announced the addition of two communities to the list of Louisiana Certified Retirement Communities.
The City of Kaplan and Tangipahoa Parish have been added to the list of eight communities first certified in 2018.
Lafayette Parish was among those eight communities.
Applications are submitted for review by the Encore Louisiana Commission each year. Those communities chosen by the commission for certification must meet specific criteria. The criteria include climate; demographics; tax structure at the state and local levels; local housing availability; public safety and crime index; employment and volunteer opportunities; healthcare and medical services; public transportation; recreational areas; and festival and fairs.
The Office of Tourism says that the certification as a “retirement area” includes state-level marketing effort inclusion, networking opportunities and possible grant funding for those communities.
Other communities are expected to be chosen in the coming years as the program expands. Nearly 76 million baby boomers are nearing retirement age, according to the state.
The list of Louisiana Certified Retirement Communities includes Lafayette Parish; Lake Charles; Natchitoches; Ruston and Lincoln Parish; Toledo Bend and Sabine Parish; Shreveport-Bossier City; Houma and Terrebonne Parish; and Thibodaux.
For more information on the communities, click here.
