Hearing set on expansion of Town Plaza tax district

After construction was finished in 1968, the building at 2103 William St. in Cape Girardeau housed Biederman's Furniture, J.C. Penney, the Drury Co. and DuShell's Furniture. The 30,600-square-foot building now sits empty in an aging parking lot, with more than a million dollars in estimated repairs needed. That could soon change.

A public hearing is scheduled Nov. 4 to consider a petition to add the building and the surrounding 53,111 square feet of parking to the Town Plaza Community Improvement District. According to the public hearing notice, petitioners seek to alter the boundaries of the CID to include 2103 William St. and other projects in the property's area. Petitioners also propose to extend the duration of the district's sale and use tax up to an additional 20 years from the day boundaries are altered to include the property.

The CID, established in 2007, finances public improvements within its boundaries and is paid for by revenue generated from taxes imposed within the boundaries. Merchants in the district are required to charge an additional 1-cent sales tax to fund improvements. Proceeds from the tax have been used to improve parking and upgrade the building previously occupied by Integrity Solution Services Inc., formerly National Asset Recovery Services Inc.

If the CID boundaries are extended, the additional 1-cent sales tax also will be charged by any business that sets up at 2103 William St. The current overall sales tax rate in the CID is the 7.975 percent in Cape Girardeau plus the additional 1 percent of the CID, totaling 8.975 percent.

The CID brought in $187,782 for the year ending June 30, 2012, according to Town Plaza CID financial statements. In September, the CID earned about $9,007 in sales tax and $257 in use tax, according to Missouri Department of Revenue financial statements.

Chauncy Buchheit, executive director of the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning Commission, said the commission in May was asked by Scott Blank, owner of Bi-State Oil Co., to determine whether the property met criteria to be deemed a "blighted area." The petition lists Clila LP, 430 Julia Drive in Cape Girardeau, as the owner of the property, and Scott Blank's phone numbers as its contact. The blight analysis was completed in July, Buchheit said, and the commission's opinion was the property met the definition.

The building has had no permanent tenant since 2005, and has suffered broken and missing windows and apparent water damage. The HVAC system needs to be replaced, and the parking lot needs repair, and those are just a few of the needed fixes, according to the blight analysis in the petition.

The estimated costs of services and improvements is about $1.28 million, according to the William Street Property Extension of the Town Plaza Community Improvement District Five Year Plan included in the petition.

Buchheit said the building's "blighted" status can allow the use of funds generated by the CID sales tax.

"In order to spend those dollars, the property would need to be deemed a blighted property," he said.

Because Blank has reached out to the CID to impose a sales tax, Buchheit believes he is looking at the building as a commercial venture.

Phone calls to Blank were not returned as of Thursday afternoon.

City manager Scott Meyer said the city is looking to continue redevelopment in the area in light of recent improvements along William Street, including construction of a CVS Pharmacy and the addition of Bagger Dave's Legendary Burger Tavern.

Meyer also said the city is looking at proposed improvements in Transportation Trust Fund programs. If voters in 2015 decide to fund the project, a corridor design to improve William Street from Main Street to Kingshighway would be funded by the TTF 5 program, which the project likely will be placed in.

Property owners in the CID will have to vote to allow the new property in its boundaries and to add the extra sales and use tax, after the public hearing, Meyer said.

Meyer has said prospective buyers could approach the city to ask to opt out of levying the tax.

The public hearing will be at 7 p.m. Nov. 4 at city hall.

ashedd@semissourian.com

388-3632

Pertinent address:

2103 William St., Cape Girardeau, MO