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At its meeting on March 9, the Skinker DeBaliviere Community Council voted to establish a steering committee to explore the creation of a Special Business District (SBD). The boundaries of this district would be the core of the neighborhood and not include businesses on Delmar or DeBaliviere, i.e., homes south of the alley between Delmar and Washington, and west of DeBaliviere, north of Forest Park Parkway and on the east side of Skinker and eastward.
A special business district is created by a vote of the residents of the above area. It would create a board of 7 whose members would be appointed by the mayor of the City of St. Louis. The board would decide what to fund with revenues collected from an add-on to the property taxes of residents. The maximum that could be collected is $0.85 per $100 of assessed valuation.
The proposed steering committee would “create a list of potential items to be funded and engage the Skinker DeBaliviere neighborhood in discussion of the funding items and assessment rate and “make a recommendation to SDCC about whether to go forward with a petition for an SBD.”
Talk of an SBD arose when the SDCC lost the majority of its block grant funding from the Community Development Administration. The Skinker DeBaliviere Housing Corporation also was affected adversely by funding changes. The SBD was seen as a funding source for the council and its activities.
The steering committee is to consist of two SDCC board members, one SDCC staff member, one staff member from the Housing Corporation and six to ten additional neighborhood residents and/or property owners to be chosen by the first five members on this list. The committee composition was amended by stipulating that only those within the taxing district would serve.
Staffing and staff salaries could be affected. There would be costs to homeowners and renters from the additional property tax. Churches will not be affected. Washington University, as a nonprofit entity, pays no property tax on the buildings it owns outright. As an accompanying article shows, it has now turned over 6188 McPherson and its 112 units undergoing extensive rehab to a private for profit entity. This was done to receive historic tax credits to help fund the renovation. Because of receipt of the tax credits, the for profit entity must remain in existence for 5 years and rentals are to be available to the general public as well as Washington U. students.
As such, the entity, Parallel Properties, will pay property tax as long as it maintains its status. At the end of five years, the properties could be returned to WU ownership, which would mean that, as a non-profit engaging in university activity, i.e. student housing, there would no longer be real estate taxes.
If the buildings were retained by Parallel or sold to a for-profit real estate owner, the tax would still be in place.
Establishment of an SBD affects us all. Renters will be affected through increases in rents, as the building owners pay more in tax. Each of these owners would pay an increased real estate tax.
The tax at this time for a home appraised at $268,000, and therefore assessed at $51,000, is approximately $3,600. Adding $0.85 per $100 assessed valuation will add about $400 per year to the tax bill.
We urge any who are interested in this matter and would like to serve on the committee to call SDCC Director Liz Pund at 862-5122.
