Now that the Land Assemblage Tax Credit is a done deal, black legislators are hosting forums to get word about this complex piece of economic development legislation out to the people.
At 6:30 p.m. on Monday, September 10, a gaggle of state legislators – state Rep. Juanita Head Walton, state Rep. Robin Wright-Jones, state Sen. Maida Coleman, and state Sen. Rita Heard-Days – will host a public meeting to discuss the tax credit at Harris-Stowe State University.
Walton said, “My goal and that of my fellow legislators is to make certain the people of our area are treated fairly and that they are knowledgeable about this issue so they can do their best to make sure it is they who benefit from the proposed development here rather than the developer.”
Some of the legislators may need to inform themselves before they can inform their people. In his Missouri Scout Update, Dave Drebes – who seldom scorns anyone other than Coleman – wryly noted that Maida said she would vote for the bill only if an amendment stipulating local control by the Board of Aldermen were added, when such an amendment had been added to the bill in committee the day before.
House Bill 1, approved last week during special session, contains the Distressed Areas Land Assemblage Tax Credit Act, which gives a tax credit equal to 50 percent of the costs and 100 percent of the interest incurred for the acquisition of an eligible parcel of land. Eligible land is defined as a tract of at least 75 acres in an economically distressed area. The driving force behind the plan is Paul McKee Jr., a St. Charles County developer who has bought more than 500 tracts of land in and around Old North St. Louis.