St. Louis Comptroller Darlene Green spoke out against a bill on Wednesday, October 19 that relates to increasing sales tax by one percent at an area where NorthSide Regeneration developer Paul McKee Jr. is building a grocery store and gas station – near the intersection of Tucker Boulevard and 13th Street.
Green took issue with the Community Improvement District (CID) that would be established as part of McKee’s TIF funding structure, defined in Board Bill 149. The CID increases the sales tax at the future market and gas station by one percent, and the tax will go towards the $20-million project’s infrastructure, site acquisition, demolition and repairs.
“The CID in this case is very different than another one where we were looking at infrastructure needs,” Green said at the Board of Estimate and Apportionment meeting at 2 p.m. on October 19. “Infrastructure needs don’t necessarily meet the needs of the community for the 40 years that the city is allowing for this CID.”
The GreenLeaf Market will be located at 1408 N. 13th St., near the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge. The ZOOM Store – a gas station, store and car wash – will be directly across the street.
Green said taxing residents for 40 years at these businesses is too long, if the main purpose is to pay for the development’s infrastructure. Green pointed to a CID in South City, called the Loughborough Commons CID.
There, the CID is used to pay back money that was borrowed to build infrastructure with a maximum amount of $5 million. That district is in place for 25 years, not 40 years like McKee’s, she said. Green suggested that McKee’s CID needs to have a maximum as well, and it can’t be an “open-ended contract.”
In 40 years, the community is going to have needs that go beyond infrastructure, such as security and public safety, she said. And the city needs to make sure they aren’t dipping into other revenue streams to pay for that when the CID is designed to pay for such things.
“You don’t want to overlook the fact that this is North, that was in the South,” Green told The St. Louis American after the meeting. “So, wait a minute. You can do it good over there. Why can’t you do the same in North City?”
On October 12, a St. Louis aldermanic committee passed two bills that would establish the CID for McKee’s development. Board Bill 150, sponsored by Alderwoman Tammika Hubbard (Ward 5), would establish the GreenLeaf CID. The Board of E&A did not take up that bill at the meeting on October 19. They were looking at Board Bill 149,which would approve the $2.8 million GreenLeaf TIF note, which essentially allows McKee to go to a third-party lender and get a loan for the project. However, Board Bill 149 is dependent on aldermen passing Board Bill 150, meaning both have to pass for the deal to go through.
Green said she agreed with Alderwoman Cara Spencer (Ward 20), who said on October 12 that Community Improvement Districts are intended to be tools for communities “to raise tax dollars and administer them hyper-locally.” And Spencer said that community members themselves should sit on the board for the district. However, the person who chairs the proposed CID is McKee himself.
Green said in the Loughborough Commons CID, the board of directors are appointed by the mayor.
The Board of E&A consists of Mayor Francis Slay, President of the Board of Aldermen Lewis Reed and the comptroller.
At the meeting, Reed said, “This bill is more complex than your average TIF. The mechanics of it, that’s where we are at.”
Slay said, “Sounds to me like we are not going to resolve it right here and now.”
Slay motioned to defer approving Board Bill 149 until Thursday, so “we can get better clarification of these issues.”
Reed interrupted, saying, “I don’t think it’s that complex of an issue. I think we can be through this thing in the next five minutes.”
However, Slay said, “It gives us enough time to make sure we are well-informed.”
Reed interrupted again saying he didn’t think it was necessary.
“It’s going to hold this up one day,” Slay said.
Reed finally agreed to meet Thursday, October 20 at 3:30 p.m. to give the attorneys from St. Louis Development Corporation and the comptroller’s office time to revise the bill.
Activist Rasheen Aldridge, who is on the November re-election ballot for 5th Ward Democratic committeeman, attended the meeting. He said he didn’t agree with increasing sales tax to build the gas station.
“Any time you have to tax the poor, it’s not a good method,” Aldridge said. “The median income of people around the area is $15,000. People are just barely getting by. We don’t need a gas station, but we need a grocery store. So it’s like we are getting penalized to get what we need.”
The two bills will go to the full aldermanic board for a second reading on Friday, October 21, if the Board of E&A approves Board Bill 149.
If the bill passes, the North City gas station will have a 9.68 percent sales tax – making it among the highest sales taxes in the country. Chicago is at the top with 10.25 percent, and Seattle sits in sixth place with 9.6 percent, according to the Tax Foundation. The grocery store will have a slightly lower tax, but St. Louis Development Corporation representatives could not answer aldermen on October 12 when they asked how much lower.
