St. Louis tax incentive report
As featured on
The city's tax-abatement formula needs a thorough review because unworthy recipients are draining significant amounts of money needed to bolster public schools. With all the attention aldermen and activists direct at the tax increment financing incentives awarded in St. Louis for large-scale projects, few are scrutinizing who receives property tax abatements. They were never meant to be used as perks to be dispensed by St. Louis' 28 aldermen for political gain, particularly in stable neighborhoods that don't need financial incentives.
The city and schools have missed out on more than $700 million in revenue over the last 15 years due to tax abatement and tax increment financing.Â
Far too often, the 28 wards in St. Louis operate as aldermanic fiefdoms. No alderman wants to challenge the need when another alderman requests approval for a tax abatement for a property in his or her ward. The only problem is, these requests add up to serious money — so much that it has robbed the city of crucial funding and led to a downgrade in the credit rating. It's time for city leaders to come up with a plan and start exercising scrutiny on special tax breaks.
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