Coffee Break: Jordan Valley Park - TIF issue proves troublesome

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If the Devil, as they say, is in the details, then the state of Missouri's tax increment financing law is the most diabolical document ever forged by legislative labor.|ret||ret||tab|

Last week, in a correction to an article on TIF financing for Jordan Valley Park, I promised we would revisit the issue and clarify the facts, and that we would conduct extensive interviews with city officials.|ret||ret||tab|

Little did I know the volume of the can of worms I was opening. In fact, it's not a can; it's more like a 50-gallon drum. |ret||ret||tab|

Instead of a solid summary of all the pertinent facts and figures, what we have published this week is a beginning. |ret||ret||tab|

We will take another run at the hill in the week(s) ahead. More interviews will have to be done. More documents are yet to be gathered.|ret||ret||tab|

The paperwork attached to this topic is phenomenal. The Jordan Valley TIF plan itself is a weighty document, filled with legal descriptions, statistics, tables and forms. |ret||ret||tab|

Add in the supporting reports, studies and the text of the enabling state law, and it's a daunting pile of paper. |ret||ret||tab|

And the more we look, the more questions we have: |ret||ret||tab|

Why are the legal descriptions of the properties so old and convoluted? |ret||ret||tab|

How can there be a project area i.e. Project Area 9 with no projects? |ret||ret||tab|

What is the definition of blight and how is it being used here? |ret||ret||tab|

Does the inclusion of properties outside the district (see the related story on page 3) invalidate the city ordinance enabling the TIF?|ret||ret||tab|

What we are learning about TIF is that it grants sweeping power to cities power to enter into all contracts necessary or incidental to the furtherance of the redevelopment plan, acquire, demolish or build anything within the TIF District pending TIF Commission approval, collect fees, accept grants and donations, and act as landlord charging fees and rents for any properties it owns or leases in the TIF District. |ret||ret||tab|

Essentially, anything that furthers the aim of the redevelopment plan is fair game within the TIF District. |ret||ret||tab|

And the redevelopment plan can be changed so long as the changes do not expand the boundaries of the TIF District. |ret||ret||tab|

There's a lot more here. We'll be back.|ret||ret||tab|

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