The modest shotgun house at 5219 Daggett Avenue in the city鈥檚 Hill neighborhood has already come down. Work has started on a 2,400-square-foot home with three bedrooms and three-and-a-half bathrooms.
The builder plans to market it for $475,000.
If a bill pending before the Board of Aldermen ultimately passes, whoever buys the property won鈥檛 have to pay property taxes on the improvements for five years. The old tax bill, which covered a house that sold for just $85,000, will be all they have to worry about.
But that鈥檚 not what the city commission in charge of reviewing requests for tax abatement recommended. The city鈥檚 Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority (LCRA) voted in May to recommend the project receive no tax break, citing the 鈥渟trength of the surrounding housing market.鈥
As Joe Vollmer, the 10th Ward alderman who represents the Hill and introduced the ordinance granting the five-year tax break, notes: 鈥淚t鈥檚 a recommendation, not a command.鈥
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If the city hopes to , it鈥檚 going to need buy-in from the city鈥檚 28 aldermen, each of whom holds considerable sway over what happens in their wards and whether developers receive tax abatements, one of the city鈥檚 most common development incentives.
Much of the pressure to cut back on abatements has built over the last year, after . That same report noted the quirk of St. 亚洲无码鈥 government structure giving aldermen such a big say in tax abatement decisions.
鈥淪t. 亚洲无码鈥 significant reliance on Alderman involvement in the process is outside of the norm,鈥 the report states. 鈥淚t is notable that the City allows abatements for any Board of Aldermen-approved property.鈥
After that report, and in response to and the city鈥檚 budgetary struggles, in stable neighborhoods.
But even when the LCRA says neighborhoods are strong enough to develop without tax abatement, it has still declared property, like the Daggett Avenue house, 鈥渂lighted.鈥 Under state law, that鈥檚 a critical step before aldermen pass legislation authorizing tax abatement.
鈥淲e do that just in case the alderman would still like to move forward with it,鈥 said LCRA Executive Director Otis Williams, after a meeting where the board recommended no tax abatement for another homebuilding project yet still blighted the property 鈥 another Vollmer request, also on Daggett Avenue. 鈥淎t the end of the day, we don鈥檛 approve it here.鈥
Still, LCRA board members expressed their displeasure during recent meetings over requests from Vollmer, who has forwarded three 10-year tax abatement proposals for new houses to the board in recent months. The board has also asked recently for LCRA staff to keep tabs on aldermanic bills dealing with properties they鈥檝e said shouldn鈥檛 be abated.
鈥淚鈥檇 like to stop seeing these come before us,鈥 LCRA Commissioner Matthew McBride said during the board鈥檚 July meeting, noting that Vollmer had introduced five-year tax abatement legislation for the 5219 Daggett property despite the board鈥檚 recommendation.
鈥淚t will be noted in the Board (of Aldermen) bill that LCRA and probably the planning commission voted against tax abatement,鈥 offered Dale Ruthsatz, part of LCRA鈥檚 staff.
鈥淟et鈥檚 not throw the alderman under the bus,鈥 Williams chimed in.
Glenn Burleigh, a member of advocacy group Team TIF, which follows city incentive use, was incredulous that the LCRA still blighted the property.
鈥淭hey talked amongst themselves about how Alderman Vollmer regularly ignores (LCRA recommendations),鈥 he said. 鈥淲hy in the world did LCRA pass it? If they knew that鈥檚 what was going to happen, then why in the world would you enable such activities?鈥
鈥楾he rules they give me鈥
Vollmer, though, says the city鈥檚 economic development office has shifted policy without letting him know. No one from LCRA told him they didn鈥檛 want tax abatement on single-family houses in the Hill anymore.
鈥淭hey changed the rules of the game without telling the players,鈥 Vollmer said.
The LCRA board has recommended five-year abatements in the neighborhood as recently as December, and Vollmer was able to pass a bill approving the incentive this spring. Two of Vollmer鈥檚 recent requests have received LCRA votes recommending against abatement, but he says the builders and homebuyers behind the projects have been planning them for close to a year and it鈥檚 not fair to yank away an incentive they were counting on.
鈥淎 lot of these projects started way before they tightened things up,鈥 Vollmer said. 鈥淭hese are not rich people. They want to stay in an area where there parents grew up. I鈥檓 not dealing with millionaires.鈥
Vollmer isn鈥檛 the only one who has recommended higher tax abatements now that the LCRA is recommending lower breaks. Alderman Joe Vaccaro, 23rd Ward, got a 10-year tax abatement bill passed last month for improvements planned on a Watson Road office building. LCRA had recommended five years because the neighborhood is stable. Vaccaro noted the business owners originally asked for 15 years of abatement.
The business, Sub Zero Gear, which sells sports bottles, coffee mugs and coolers through various retailers, planned to double its staff to about 14 people and invest $200,000 into a building it bought for $379,000. Vaccaro said he hasn鈥檛 asked for tax abatements in years because it鈥檚 often 鈥渁 stretch to say something鈥檚 blighted鈥 in his southwest St. 亚洲无码 ward.
鈥淚 just felt it was the right thing to do, keeping a business in the city,鈥 Vaccaro said. 鈥淭his was a pretty rare exception.鈥
Sarah Coffin, a St. 亚洲无码 University professor of urban planning who worked on the city鈥檚 incentive report, said there appears to be sincere attempts to develop guidelines limiting incentives in places where they aren鈥檛 needed. But, she said, 鈥渨e were worried this is what was going to end up happening.鈥
鈥淚t鈥檚 really difficult because of the structure of our government,鈥 she said. 鈥淭he mayor can come down and say, 鈥楾his is what we鈥檙e gonna do.鈥 And the aldermen can say, 鈥楴o we鈥檙e not.鈥 鈥 Because we鈥檝e politicized the process for so many decades, we鈥檝e lost sight of the fact that this is an investment of people鈥檚 dollars.鈥
Some aldermen appear to be open to LCRA recommendations, and even Vollmer has reduced abatement time on projects after the board weighed in. Alderman Stephen Conway, whose 8th Ward includes the affluent Shaw neighborhood, is still forwarding constituent requests for property tax breaks. But in recent correspondence with the LCRA, he has suggested he鈥檒l defer to its recommendations.
鈥淭his project has my support,鈥 Conway wrote to LCRA staff regarding a $170,000 rehab on Russell Boulevard that the owner plans to market for $315,000. 鈥淟et鈥檚 see what commission says on length.鈥
Vollmer, though, says there are still two or three abatement bills he plans on trying to get through the Board of Aldermen. He鈥檒l make the same pitch to his colleagues: the projects have been in the works for months, and it鈥檚 unfair to pull an incentive they were counting on. If his colleagues disapprove, he鈥檒l tell the constituents who come to him for abatement that he can鈥檛 guarantee the tax breaks anymore.
鈥淚鈥檒l play by the rules they give me,鈥 Vollmer said.
Alderman Joe Roddy, 17th Ward, who heads the committee that often reviews development incentives and is , admits his challenge is that central corridor neighborhoods he represents 鈥渦sed those tools pretty aggressively.鈥 But he said he is trying to wean his neighborhoods off and lead by example, and he hopes the new guidelines, when they鈥檙e finished, can keep aldermen 鈥渟omewhat insulated from the politics of it.鈥
In the meantime, it can be difficult to oppose projects in other members鈥 wards.
Last month, Roddy held up a bill in his committee carried by 6th Ward Alderman Christine Ingrassia. Ingrassia wanted tax abatement for the new Charleville Brewing Co. & Tavern restaurant on Chouteau Avenue. Roddy was upset that she had voted against projects in his ward.
Asked about Vollmer鈥檚 requests, and the fact that the LCRA is still blighting properties despite recommending against abatements, Roddy chose his words carefully: 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a valid concern.鈥