Missouri Senate

Senate Substitute

This act modifies the definitions of "blighted area" and "conservation area", and creates new definitions for "port infrastructure projects", "retail area", and "retail infrastructure projects". (Section 99.805)

This act modifies local tax increment financing projects by providing that a study shall be conducted by a party other than the proponent of the redevelopment plan, which details how the area meets the definition of an area eligible to receive tax increment financing.

This act also provides that retail areas, as defined in the act, shall not receive tax increment financing unless such financing is exclusively utilized to fund retail infrastructure projects, as defined in the act, or unless such area is a blighted or conservation area. (Section 99.810)

For tax increment financing projects approved or amended after December 31, 2020, the City of St. Louis may provide for the deposit of up to 10% of the tax increment financing revenues generated by the project into a Strategic Infrastructure for Economic Growth Fund to be established by the city. Moneys deposited in such fund may be expended by the city for the purpose of funding capital investments in public infrastructure that is located in a census tract that is defined as a low-income community or is eligible to be designated as a Qualified Opportunity Zone under federal law. (Section 99.821)

This act prohibits new projects from being authorized in any Greenfield area. (Section 99.843)

This act also prohibits new projects from being authorized in an area designated as a flood plain by the Federal Emergency Management Agency unless such projects are located in 1) Jackson, Platte, or Clay counties; 2) the cities of Springfield or St. Joseph, 3) in a port district, provided such financing is utilized for port infrastructure projects; or 4) in a levee or drainage district created prior to August 28, 2020. This provision shall not apply to tax increment financing projects or districts approved prior to June 30, 2021, and such projects may be modified, amended, or expanded by not more than forty percent of such projects' original projected cost. Projects in flood plains shall not be authorized in St. Charles County unless the redevelopment area actually abuts a river or major waterway, as described in the act. (Section 99.847)

Current law allows districts and counties imposing a property tax for the purposes of providing emergency services to be entitled to reimbursement from the special allocation fund of a portion of the district's or county's tax increment. For projects approved after August 28, 2020, this act modifies such provision to allow reimbursement to ambulance districts, fire protection districts, and governing bodies operating a 911 center providing dispatch services and which impose economic activity taxes for such purposes. (Section 99.848)

This act is substantially similar to HCS/SS/SCS/SB 108 (2019) and HB 698 (2019), and is similar to SB 311, HB 32 (2019), and SS/SCS/SB 859 (2018).

JOSH NORBERG