In late December 2009, pressed to award nearly $20 million in tax credits to a single development company, the Missouri Department of Economic Development (DED) managed to review the company’s formal application within the month, awarding the company, NorthSide Regeneration LLC, $19.6 million just a day before the end of the year. In its rush, it seems that the department failed to catch more than 100 discrepancies nestled within the tax credit application, which appear to have cost the state hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Fehlig Brothers Box & Lumber has been in business since 1873, and located in Saint Louis' north side for 55 years. Company president Jack O'Leary said that while some area residents and businessmen are skeptical of the $8.1 billion plan put forward by developer Paul McKee and NorthSide Regeneration LLC, he’s generally for it. However, according to NorthSide’s redevelopment plan, a good portion of Fehlig Brothers is slated for “open space.”
Three houses fall squarely within the boundaries of the recently approved $8.1 billion development of the city of Saint Louis' north side. Of course, about 4,600 other properties also fall within those boundaries, but in the case of the 2200 block of Madison, NorthSide Regeneration LLC, the company behind the development, may be endangering one of its most frequently invoked promises. That promise concerns the use of eminent domain.
On Wednesday, the state's Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) presented its application for nearly $750 million in federal funding to the state Senate Committee on Education.
During December, state tax revenues continued to fall short. According to Linda Luebbering, state budget director, revenues were down more than $170 million in December 2009, as compared to December 2008. The slide amounts to a 21.7-percent decrease. Despite the most recent decline, state officials say they expect tax revenues to bounce back slightly during the next fiscal year.
A much-debated $8 billion development in the city of Saint Louis' north side has been awarded $19.6 million in state tax credits. Those are in addition to city tax incentives, which could total up to $398 million.
A chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit today claiming that a city ordinance banning people from putting pamphlets on car windshields violates the constitutional right to free speech.
The state's largest teacher union, the Missouri National Education Association (MNEA), argued in court on Friday that public school teachers should be represented by either a single union, or none.
On Monday night, Sen. Kurt Schaefer (R-Columbia) told the Columbia Board of Education that more cuts to the state budget seemed certain, and that the steep decline in state tax revenues would likely affect funding for public schools.
A circuit court judge ruled on Thursday that a contested 1,500-acre development of the city's north side can move forward. Critics had claimed in court that the city ordinance authorizing the development was invalid because the city hadn't thoroughly vetted the development company's funding before granting it up to $390.6 million in tax increment financing (TIF). However, Judge Robert Dierker wrote in his ruling that it isn't the job of the courts to second-guess the city's decision to approve the project.
A petition drive to put a recently approved large-scale development of the city's north side up for city vote to failed to gather enough signatures. The backers of the petition, critics of the 1,500-acre development put forward by NorthSide Regeneration LLC and developer Paul McKee, had gathered more than 3,000 signatures, said Jim Roos, an anti–eminent domain activist.
Another plaintiff (and set of attorneys) has joined the lawsuit filed against the development company that the city of Saint Louis recently approved for $390.6 million in tax increment financing (TIF) to redevelop 1,500 acres in the city's north side and in northern portions of downtown.
During the second day of public testimony, the committee heard the same message it had heard the day before from government agency representatives: Don't make additional cuts.
The requests weren't for more money, but for no additional budget cuts. On Monday, the Senate Appropriations Committee began a series of public hearings to hear various government agency representatives plead for maintained funding from the state. But more cuts will likely be made.
With state tax revenues down 10.8 percent the first quarter of the 2010 fiscal year compared with the first quarter of 2009, experts predict that revenues will continue to slide.
On Thursday, a circuit court judge heard arguments that the city of Saint Louis' Tax Increment Finance (TIF) Commission had not thoroughly investigated the financial backing of a proposed redevelopment of 1,500 acres in the city's north side before approving it. The lawsuit, by no means a certain bet, could halt the recently approved project put forward by developer Paul McKee and his company NorthSide Regeneration LLC.
The lawyer for a recently approved redevelopment of 1,500 acres in the city of Saint Louis' north side says that the development company, NorthSide Regeneration LLC, will likely need eminent domain to acquire about 20 properties in the redevelopment area. The project, put forward by developer Paul McKee, has been contentious in the past because of the perceived threat of eminent domain, and because it calls for nearly $400 million in tax increment financing (TIF) from the city.
With revenues down by about $1 million, the Saint Charles County Council met to debate the merits of granting $80,000 to market an airport expansion project that doesn't fall within the county. The project is a proposed expansion of the Lambert–Saint Louis International Airport that would create a China hub in the hopes of increased international trade.
This year, the Saint Louis City Recorder of Deeds office, which oversees real estate licenses, has collected $20,729 in copy charges from people who printed documents from the privacy of their own home or business. The copies didn't involve the use of any of the city's paper or staff time, things for which governments usually charge copy costs.
According to data posted on the federal government's stimulus tracking website, Recovery.gov, stimulus dollars have created or saved more than 15,000 jobs in Missouri. But some of those jobs seem to be located in state congressional districts that don't exist.
Nearly 40 local and statewide pension systems for public employees are under funded, according to a report submitted on Tuesday to the legislature's Joint Committee on Public Employee Retirement (JCPER).
On Monday, a joint legislative committee tasked with planning out a 25-year-long, statewide strategy for Missouri's electricity production and consumption met to consider the cost and availability of alternative forms of energy.
State tax revenue collections continue to fall short. For October 2009, collections were down 14 percent, compared with October 2008, falling from $514.8 million to $442.7 million.
The Saint Louis Board of Aldermen voted to perfect and approve an $8.1 billion development of the city's north side, along with $198.6 million in tax increment financing (TIF) for the first half of project, for the next 23 years.
A not-yet-approved $8.1 billion development of the city of Saint Louis' north side is already facing legal action. Critics of the development have been very vocal about their concerns of blighting, the use of eminent domain, and whether the project has any financial backers. The development company, NorthSide Regeneration LLC, has asked the city for $390.6 million in tax increment financing (TIF).
On Wednesday, Gov. Jay Nixon announced an additional $200 million in state budget cuts. The cuts come in the wake of low state revenue numbers for the first quarter of the fiscal year. In early October, the director of revenue's office announced that the state had taken in nearly 10 percent less in revenues than it had during the previous year.
Lawsuits filed on behalf of two district affiliates of the Missouri National Education Association have moved forward. The Springfield union affiliate has appealed a judge's decision that teachers can choose between single, multiple, or no union representation, and a case filed by the Bayless union affiliate will go to trial in December.
