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Bill Would Exclude Retail Developers from TIF Tax Breaks

January 17, 1998
By: liz cafer
State Capital Bureau Retail-store developers would no longer be eligible for tax breaks under a bill heard by state lawmakers Tuesday. Liz Cafer has the story in Jefferson City.

Tax increment financing, or TIF tax breaks, were meant to encourage economic development in delapidated areas.

But some Senators say that retail-store developers in the St. Louis area are using taxpayers' money for projects that don't need subsidizing.

Senator James Mathewson:



"I think there are times in the state of Missouri and potentially on the eastern side of the state that it is being misused where you're in essence creating competition against someone who used their own money. I don't think that's fair..."

But Mathewson also says that he's not ready to pass a bill that would exclude retail developers. Local boards were given the power to restrict TIFs in a bill passed last year, and he says he would like to see that law play out before passing another. In Jefferson City, I'm Liz Cafer.