When it comes to the proposed Land Assemblage Tax Credit, the devil is in the details.

A story in today’s Post-Dispatch says leaders in the Republican-controlled legislature are confident that a scaled-back version of Governor Matt Blunt’s economic development package will pass during the special session which begins tomorrow. Included in that package is the controversial tax credit which as originally passed seemed to include parameters that only one known developer could qualify for.

From Virginia Young’s story:

Developer Paul J. McKee Jr. has purchased more than 500 tracts of land in and around Old North St. Louis, land that could be used in part to qualify for such tax credits.

Blunt says the new bill would broaden the program so that more developers could participate. Under the latest draft, the subsidy could go to those who buy at least 50 acres for projects covering at least 75 acres in low-income areas. Up to $10 million in credits could be issued each year until the total hit $95 million.

The sponsor, Sen. John Griesheimer, R-Washington, Mo., said he believed the new proposal satisfies concerns that the program was designed for one man. Griesheimer added that McKee “ought to be nominated for sainthood” for investing in decaying areas of St. Louis.

Senator Griesheimer may feel differently about McKee’s qualifications for sainthood after he watches PubDef’s latest video on the St. Charles developer’s northside activities. Check back Monday for that special report.

Lowering the requirement of the acreage needed in order for a developer to qualify for the tax credit is a step in the right direction, said the original Blairmont watchdog, Michael Allen. But at 50 acres, the bill would still make McKee the only likely applicant in Old North St. Louis.

“What we need is a threshold much lower than that, closer to half that number,” said Allen. “At 20 to 25 acres, other developers and even established neighborhood organizations could apply and receive these tax credits.”

PubDef will be reporting this week from the special session in Jefferson City, following the negotiations as legislators, lobbyists and residents try to reach a compromise.

According to the Post, the Legislature’s schedule calls for a House committee to hold a hearing on the bill on Tuesday. The full House will vote Thursday. A Senate hearing will take place Aug. 27 and the full Senate could vote Aug. 29.

A group of St. Louis legislators, including State Reps Jamilah Nasheed, Jeanette Mott Oxford and Rodney Hubbard*, State Senator Harry Kennedy, Aldermen April Ford Griffin, Dionne Flowers, Freeman Bosley, Sr., Jeffrey Boyd, Marlene Davis, Terry Kennedy, Frank Williamson, Bill Waterhouse, and Aldermanic President Lewis Reed*, today called for the controversial Land Assemblage Tax Credit to be amended during next week’s special session.

*Clients of A.D. French & Associates

At a press conference this morning at the corner of Montgomery Street and N. Garrison Avenue in north St. Louis, 5th Ward Alderman April Ford-Griffin voiced her concerns about the proposed Land Assemblage Tax Credit that is once again being discussed by state legislators.

Griffin echoed concerns that the bill needs to be amended to allow others beside controversial St. Charles developer Paul McKee to benefit. According to Griffin, McKee has intentionally allowed his 500-plus properties in north St. Louis to deteriorate — and in some cases, workers have intentionally knocked down walls and destroyed foundations — in order to drop the property values and buy more land.

Griffin said the state legislature should not reward McKee for his poor stewardship of these properties.

Griffin also accused Mayor Francis Slay’s office someone in city government of sending city workers to McKee’s sites yesterday to clean up his lots ahead of today’s press event.

Several other aldermen, including Charles Troupe, Dionne Flowers, Freeman Bosley, Sr., Marlene Davis, Jeffrey Boyd, Terry Kennedy, Frank Williamson, Bill Waterhouse, and Board President Lewis Reed attended the event. State Reps Jeanette Mott Oxford and Jamilah Nasheed, who both helped organize the event, were joined by colleagues Rodney Hubbard, Cynthia Davis (R-O’Fallon) and Ron Casey (D-Crystal City). License Collector and former 19th Ward alderman Mike McMillan also attended.

When a group of local lawmakers lead a tour of some of north St. Louis’ most blighted areas Thursday, they’ll do so to call attention to the need for development and state investment in those areas.

They’ll also be illustrating why they believe the proposed $100 million Land Assemblage Tax Credit should be amended to allow other developers besides Paul McKee to qualify for it.

State Reps Jeanette Mott Oxford, Jamilah Nasheed and Rodney Hubbard*; and Aldermen April Ford-Griffin and Marlene Davis will lead a group of invited guests, including other state legislators, around parts of the 5th and 19th Wards where McKee has quietly aquired more than 500 properties.

Many of McKee’s buildings have become eye sores and nuisance properties in neighborhoods occupied by longtime residents holding out for the city’s “renaissance” to come their way and new residents pioneering to rehabilitate a once great area.

Oxford and Davis each told PubDef that they welcome the state’s attempt to spur development, but that they would like to see the legislation, which will be voted on next week, amended to allow more developers to participate.

The legislators’ press conference is set for Thursday at 10:00 a.m. at 2950 Montgomery, with a bus tour to follow at 10:30 a.m.

PubDef will be reporting next week from the special session in Jefferson City, following the negotiations as legislators, lobbyists and residents try to reach a compromise that allows north St. Louis to benefit from needed investment, while not cutting all but just one or two would-be developers out of the project.

*Rodney Hubbard is a client of A D French & Associates

The Missouri Department of Economic Development has approved Neighborhood Assistance Program (NAP) tax credits for several not-for-profit organizations:

Gateway Greening, St. Louis, has been approved for $59,044 in NAP tax credits. Gateway Greening will utilize the tax credits to provide tools, training and on-going support for more than 180 community greening and gardening projects.

Missouri EnergyCare, Inc., St. Louis, has been approved for $24,000 in NAP tax credits. Missouri EnergyCare, Inc., will utilize the tax credits to fund its annual Winter Warming and Summer Cooling programs. These programs work among the medically vulnerable, low-income residents of St. Louis and St. Louis County to prevent illness, hospitalization or death caused by summer heat and humidity or winter cold.

Operation Food Search, St. Louis, has been approved for $200,000 in NAP tax credits. Operation Food Search will utilize the tax credits to provide $16 million of emergency food assistance to member agencies for distribution to Missourians in need. The project is expected to serve 265,000 individuals during the next year.

St. Patrick Center, St. Louis, has been approved for $240,453 in NAP tax credits. St. Patrick Center will utilize the tax credits for its Employment Enhancement project. The project will provide skill development services that enable Missourians to become employable, seek higher grades of employment and for completing vocational or educational training.