urbanSTL

We need to levy a Land Use tax on all the parking lots first, needs to be high enough to ensure that they cannot sustain themselves and are forced to shut down. Then the city can push a sale for a redevelopment or but the lot itself and operate the parking.

Yeah but it needs to be nuanced. If it’s just a blatant attack parking lot/garage owners, the cousin kissers in Jeff City will destroy it

JaneJacobsGhost wrote: ↑

Jul 14, 2025

Yeah but it needs to be nuanced. If it’s just a blatant attack parking lot/garage owners, the cousin kissers in Jeff City will destroy it

 omg...totally using that from now on. *chefs kiss*

JaneJacobsGhost wrote: ↑

Jul 14, 2025

Yeah but it needs to be nuanced. If it’s just a blatant attack parking lot/garage owners, the cousin kissers in Jeff City will destroy it

I just think it needs to specifically be lots because their property assessment pails in comparison to garages or buildings.

The parking lot at 500 S Broadway is assessed at $4 million while its neighboring properties are $14.6M, $3.7M, and a parking lot owned by the state, making it tax exempt.

This makes the median of its neighboring properties (not including Busch) $9.15M. Then you tax the differnece between $9.15M and $4M, which is $5.15M, at a rate of like 3%, which is about $154,500 in revenue, which more than doubles their property tax bill. I would make it apply to all properties, with exemptions for if your property is within 75% of the neighboring properties assessment or if your property hosts a certain number of employees, etc. Obviously those wouldn't apply for a parking lot.

You can't do this for parking garages because they would most likely be exempt using the scheme I've imagined up. For example, Stadium West Garage is assessed at $23.9M, meaning the city already gets a healthy property tax revenue from it. And it is assessed higher than even BOA Plaza, which is $16.2M.

All the city has to do to get a healthy property tax from a data center is to assess it properly. For example, the AT&T data center on Chestnut is assessed at $36.7M. Obviously that's bigger than what this property will be, but it's the same idea.

And if the state wants to interject and pass a law blocking a voter approved Land Value Tax scheme, then it is what it is. All the mayor would have to do is learn the sauce and make the state out as the enemy and one of the city's biggest detriments to its success.

Any land value tax would need to be initiated at the state level.  The state has sole control on HOW taxing districts assess and tax income and properties.  The taxing districts have some latitude in how MUCH (tax rates) they tax incomes and properties.  The city can not implement a Land Value Tax without the state providing some mechanism allowing it to do so.

TalkinDev wrote: ↑

Jul 14, 2025

Any land value tax would need to be initiated at the state level.  The state has sole control on HOW taxing districts assess and tax income and properties.  The taxing districts have some latitude in how MUCH (tax rates) they tax incomes and properties.  The city can not implement a Land Value Tax without the state providing some mechanism allowing it to do so.

The city can do whatever it wants, make the state sue to block a taxing scheme that not only makes the city better but also generates revenue to go towards something like, I don't know, paying police more.

Auggie wrote: ↑

Jul 14, 2025

We need to levy a Land Use tax on all the parking lots first, needs to be high enough to ensure that they cannot sustain themselves and are forced to shut down. Then the city can push a sale for a redevelopment or but the lot itself and operate the parking.

I keep bringing this up to alders, and they don't respond to it.  Even with Coatar who was a lawyer wouldn't respond to it outside of platitudes.  No one wants to put in the work.  And as you've seen with Chemical languishing the last couple of decades, RRX, etc.  It's just general apathy and it's aggravating.