BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - The East Baton Rouge Metro Council just approved a one percent retail sales tax within the LSU Economic Development District.

That includes the LSU campus and 109 businesses in the surrounding area, including Tigerland, but some critics have raised concerns about the district because it does not include residential properties. That means the council did not need to go to voters to approve the tax.

There’s also controversy surrounding the developer involved in the 400 million arena project.

Oak View Group was fined 15 million in June, accused of a bid-rigging scheme to secure a contract with the Moody Center in Austin, Texas.

The tax will be if on October 1. The development district will decide how that money is spent.

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