SB 74 - This act modifies tax increment financing laws for areas where a majority of the property is located within an area affected by certain natural disasters. For a redevelopment plan to be eligible for the provisions of law regarding tax increment financing in disaster areas, the city, town, village, or county must approve the redevelopment plan within three years after the date the President of the United States declares the disaster. Currently, a city, town, or village is required to make a finding that an area would not reasonably be anticipated to be developed without tax increment financing. This act allows a city, town, village, or county to adopt a redevelopment plan for the purpose of tax increment financing without this finding if a majority of the property in the redevelopment area includes a portion of the municipality directly affected by President's request for disaster assistance.
Currently, a developer is required to provide information to allow the tax increment financing commission to evaluate the financial feasibility of the redevelopment plan. This act allows the city, town, village, or county to provide information regarding the financial feasibility of the redevelopment plan itself, if the redevelopment area contains a disaster area.
Where a redevelopment area contains a disaster area, all or part of the taxing district's operating costs and debt service costs from the redevelopment project may be included in redevelopment project costs, in addition to the costs that current law allows other redevelopment projects to include.
Current law allows, under the State Supplemental Tax Increment Financing program, for the General Assembly to appropriate funds to the Department of Economic Development to provide to municipalities with approved projects in an amount up to fifty percent of the increase in state income tax revenue from new jobs in the project area, or in an amount up to fifty percent of the incremental increase in the general revenue portion of the state sales tax. Under this act, beginning December 1, 2012, the General Assembly may appropriate funds to the newly created Missouri Supplemental Disaster Recovery Fund for the Department of Economic Development to provide to municipalities with approved redevelopment projects in disaster areas in an amount up to fifty percent of the total of: 1) the increase in the amount of income tax employers withhold from all employees of businesses located in the project area; and 2)the incremental increase in the general revenue portion of state sales tax revenues. Particular municipalities will also be allowed to receive additional amounts from this fund, if the amounts are requested by the Department of Economic Development through appropriations.
This act also modifies the Missouri Museum District Act. The act expands the scope of museum districts to include buildings or areas used for promoting culture and the arts, including theater, music, entertainment, public places, libraries, and other public assets. The act restricts the creation of museum and cultural districts under these provisions to situations where the majority of the property is located within a disaster area. The act requires that petitions to create museum and cultural districts be filed within five years of the Presidential declaration establishing the disaster area. The museum and cultural district can include property parcels that are not connected to each other. Legal voters who live in the proposed district will not be required to be listed on the petition to create the district, will not be required to be served a copy of the petition creating the district, and will not have statutory authority to sue to support or oppose the creation of the district. The board of directors of the district will be made of five members who are all elected at a public meeting. The General Assembly is authorized to make appropriations from general revenue to a district created under this act for a period of twenty years after January 1, 2013. In addition to a sales tax, the board is authorized to impose, with the approval of qualified voters, a fee of up to one dollar on any person or entity that offers or manages an event in the district and charges admission for the event. The district will not be required to contract only with a not-for-profit or governmental entity to operate and manage any museum or cultural asset in the district.
This act contains an emergency clause.
This act is similar to HB 158 (2013), SB 777 (2012) and similar to HB 8 (1st Ext. Session 2011). The provisions relating to museum districts are also similar to HCS/HB 161 (2013), HCS/SB 23 (2013), HCS/SB 24 (2013), and HCS/SS/SCS/SB 83 (2013).
MIKE HAMMANN