Editor’s note: The St. Louis Board of Alderman gave final approval on Feb. 1 to the bill amending the Argyle TIF.
A CASH-HEAVY TAX INCREMENT FINANCING (TIF) DISTRICT moved one step closer Thursday to releasing millions of dollars this year to St. Louis City’s general budget and the St. Louis Public Schools.
The aldermanic Ways and Means Committee voted unanimously to approve a bill to amend the Argyle TIF, sending the bill back to the full Board of Aldermen and keeping it on track for final approval by early February.
Comptroller Darlene Green’s office estimates that during fiscal 2019 (the city’s current fiscal year ending June 30), the Argyle would disburse a total of $7.7 million. This includes $3.1 million for the city’s budget, $3.5 million for the school district and $1.1 million to be split among other tax-supported entities including the St. Louis Public Library, the Zoo-Museum District and the Metropolitan Sewer District.
Of the $3.1 million for the city, $2.0 million would go to the general fund and $1.1 million would go to dedicated budget funds that support public safety, conventions & tourism, transportation and other programs, according to estimates provided by Green’s office during the committee hearing (see graphic below).
The TIF would capture and distribute an additional $9.5 million spread over the next three fiscal years until it expires at the end of 2021, according to the comptroller’s estimates. After that, the tax revenues raised will simply go directly to the entities designated to receive them.
McPherson reported last week on the Argyle bill, which is sponsored by 28th Ward Alderwoman Heather Navarro. The Argyle TIF — a rarity among the city’s more than 100 TIFs due to its pile of surplus cash — diverts millions of tax dollars each year from the Chase Park Plaza hotel and condominium complex to support the city-owned Argyle parking garage and pay for public improvements in and around Maryland Plaza in the Central West End. The garage is one block east of the Chase at Lindell Boulevard and Euclid Avenue.
The bill is the result of an agreement hammered out in recent weeks by Navarro, Green’s office and the office of Treasurer Tishaura Jones. It’s the first time city officials have attempted to free cash early from a TIF, and it may end up being the only such attempt, since none of the city’s other TIFs appear to have cash balances of any consequence, according to McPherson’s review of the city’s annual TIF reports.
The language in Navarro’s bill indicates the Argyle TIF would have had only about $6.3 million of surplus cash to disburse in the current fiscal year, but the comptroller’s office now estimates the surplus figure at $7.7 million due to additional revenue the TIF has recently collected.
TIFs are economic development tools that capture tax revenue — from property, sales, payrolls and other sources — and use it to help finance projects including shopping centers, apartment buildings and hotels.
The bill from Navarro, who is running for re-election in the March Democratic primary, would not generate any “new” tax money. It would merely bring forward the distribution of the Argyle’s surplus funds by two or three years.
The estimated $2 million this year for the city’s general fund is tiny compared to the fund’s size of about $517 million. Still, the extra money could play a vital role in helping to plug gaps that may arise if tax receipts prove to be lower than expected. –McP–
Editor’s note: McPherson’s previous stories about the Argyle TIF, including background about how the TIF came to be and how it collects tax money, can be found on the homepage at www.mcphersonpublishing.com
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