Mo. Rev. Stat. § 99.918 — MO Code / Chapter 99 / Section 99.918
99.918 Definitions.
Status: in_force

99.918. Definitions. — As used in sections 99.915 to 99.980 , unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the following terms shall mean:

(1) "Authority" , the downtown economic stimulus authority for a municipality, created pursuant to section 99.921 ;

(2) "Baseline year" , the calendar year prior to the adoption of an ordinance by the municipality approving a development project; provided, however, if economic activity taxes or state sales tax revenues, from businesses other than any out-of-state business or businesses locating in the development project area, decrease in the development project area in the year following the year in which the ordinance approving a development project is approved by a municipality, the baseline year may, at the option of the municipality approving the development project, be the year following the year of the adoption of the ordinance approving the development project. When a development project area is located within a county for which public and individual assistance has been requested by the governor pursuant to Section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C. 5121, et seq., for an emergency proclaimed by the governor pursuant to section 44.100 due to a natural disaster of major proportions that occurred after May 1, 2003, but prior to May 10, 2003, and the development project area is a central business district that sustained severe damage as a result of such natural disaster, as determined by the state emergency management agency, the baseline year may, at the option of the municipality approving the development project, be the calendar year in which the natural disaster occurred or the year following the year in which the natural disaster occurred, provided that the municipality adopts an ordinance approving the development project within one year after the occurrence of the natural disaster;

(3) "Blighted area" , the same meaning as defined pursuant to section 99.805 ;

(4) "Central business district" , the area at or near the historic core that is locally known as the "downtown" of a municipality that has a median household income of sixty-two thousand dollars or less, according to the United States Census Bureau's American Community Survey, based on the most recent of five-year period estimate data in which the final year of the estimate ends in either zero or five. In addition, at least fifty percent of existing buildings in this area will have been built in excess of thirty-five years prior or vacant lots that had prior structures built in excess of thirty-five years prior to the adoption of the ordinance approving the redevelopment plan. The historical land use emphasis of a central business district prior to redevelopment will have been a mixed use of business, commercial, financial, transportation, government, and multifamily residential uses;

(5) "Collecting officer" , the officer of the municipality responsible for receiving and processing payments in lieu of taxes, economic activity taxes other than economic activity taxes which are local sales taxes, and other local taxes other than local sales taxes, and, for local sales taxes and state taxes, the director of revenue;

(6) "Conservation area" , any improved area within the boundaries of a redevelopment area located within the territorial limits of a municipality in which fifty percent or more of the structures in the area have an age of thirty-five years or more, and such an area is not yet a blighted area but is detrimental to the public health, safety, morals, or welfare and may become a blighted area because of any one or more of the following factors: dilapidation; obsolescence; deterioration; illegal use of individual structures; presence of structures below minimum code standards; abandonment; excessive vacancies; overcrowding of structures and community facilities; lack of ventilation, light or sanitary facilities; inadequate utilities; excessive land coverage; deleterious land use or layout; depreciation of physical maintenance; and lack of community planning;

(7) "Development area" , an area designated by a municipality in respect to which the municipality has made a finding that there exist conditions which cause the area to be classified as a blighted area or a conservation area, which area shall have the following characteristics:

(a) It includes only those parcels of real property directly and substantially benefitted by the proposed development plan;

(b) It can be renovated through one or more development projects;

(c) It is located in the central business district;

(d) It has generally suffered from declining population or property taxes for the twenty-year period immediately preceding the area's designation as a development area or has structures in the area fifty percent or more of which have an age of thirty-five years or more;

(e) It is contiguous, provided, however that a development area may include up to three noncontiguous areas selected for development projects, provided that each noncontiguous area meets the requirements of paragraphs (a) to (g) herein;

(f) The development area shall not exceed ten percent of the entire area of the municipality; and

(g) The development area shall not include any property that is located within the one hundred year flood plain, as designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency flood delineation maps, unless such property is protected by a structure that is inspected and certified by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. This subdivision shall not apply to property within the one hundred year flood plain if the buildings on the property have been or will be flood proofed in accordance with the Federal Emergency Management Agency's standards for flood proofing and the property is located in a home rule city with more than one hundred fifty-one thousand five hundred but fewer than one hundred fifty-one thousand six hundred inhabitants. Only those buildings certified as being flood proofed in accordance with the Federal Emergency Management Agency's standards for flood proofing by the authority shall be eligible for the state sales tax increment and the state income tax increment. Subject to the limitation set forth in this subdivision, the development area can be enlarged or modified as provided in section 99.951 ;

(8) "Development plan" , the comprehensive program of a municipality to reduce or eliminate those conditions which qualified a development area as a blighted area or a conservation area, and to thereby enhance the tax bases of the taxing districts which extend into the development area through the reimbursement, payment, or other financing of development project costs in accordance with sections 99.915 to 99.980 and through the exercise of the powers set forth in sections 99.915 to 99.980 . The development plan shall conform to the requirements of section 99.942 ;

(9) "Development project" , any development project within a development area which constitutes a major initiative in furtherance of the objectives of the development plan, and any such development project shall include a legal description of the area selected for such development project;

(10) "Development project area" , the area located within a development area selected for a development project;

(11) "Development project costs" include such costs to the development plan or a development project, as applicable, which are expended on public property, buildings, or rights-of-ways for public purposes to provide infrastructure to support a development project. Such costs shall only be allowed as an initial expense which, to be recoverable, must be included in the costs of a development plan or development project, except in circumstances of plan amendments approved by the Missouri development finance board and the department of economic development. Such infrastructure costs include, but are not limited to, the following:

(a) Costs of studies, appraisals, surveys, plans, and specifications;

(b) Professional service costs, including, but not limited to, architectural, engineering, legal, marketing, financial, planning, or special services;

(c) Property assembly costs, including, but not limited to, acquisition of land and other property, real or personal, or rights or interests therein, demolition of buildings, and the clearing and grading of land;

(d) Costs of rehabilitation, reconstruction, repair, or remodeling of existing public buildings and fixtures;

(e) Costs of construction of public works or improvements;

(f) Financing costs, including, but not limited to, all necessary expenses related to the issuance of obligations issued to finance all or any portion of the infrastructure costs of one or more development projects, and which may include capitalized interest on any such obligations and reasonable reserves related to any such obligations;

(g) All or a portion of a taxing district's capital costs resulting from any development project necessarily incurred or to be incurred in furtherance of the objectives of the development plan, to the extent the municipality by written agreement accepts and approves such infrastructure costs;

(h) Payments to taxing districts on a pro rata basis to partially reimburse taxes diverted by approval of a development project;

(i) State government costs, including, but not limited to, the reasonable costs incurred by the department of economic development, the department of revenue and the office of administration in evaluating an application for and administering state supplemental downtown development financing for a development project; and

(j) Endowment of positions at an institution of higher education which has a designation as a Carnegie Research I University including any campus of such university system, subject to the provisions of section 99.958 . In addition, economic activity taxes and payment in lieu of taxes may be expended on or used to reimburse any reasonable or necessary costs incurred or estimated to be incurred in furtherance of a development plan or a development project;

(12) "Economic activity taxes" , the total additional revenue from taxes which are imposed by the municipality and other taxing districts, and which are generated by economic activities within each development project area, which are not related to the relocation of any out-of-state business into the development project area, which exceed the amount of such taxes generated by economic activities within such development project area in the baseline year plus, in development project areas where the baseline year is the year following the year in which the development project is approved by the municipality pursuant to subdivision (2) of this section, the total revenue from taxes which are imposed by the municipality and other taxing districts which is generated by economic activities within the development project area resulting from the relocation of an out-of-state business or out-of-state businesses to the development project area pursuant to section 99.919 ; but excluding personal property taxes, taxes imposed on sales or charges for sleeping rooms paid by transient guests of hotels and motels, licenses, fees, or special assessments. If a retail establishment relocates within one year from one facility to another facility within the same county and the municipality or authority finds that the retail establishment is a direct beneficiary of development financing, then for purposes of this definition, the economic activity taxes generated by the retail establishment shall equal the total additional revenues from taxes which are imposed by the municipality and other taxing districts which are generated by the economic activities within the development project area which exceed the amount of taxes which are imposed by the municipality and other taxing districts which are generated by economic activities within the development project area generated by the retail establishment in the baseline year;

(13) "Gambling establishment" , an excursion gambling boat as defined in section 313.800 and any related business facility including any real property improvements which are directly and solely related to such business facility, whose sole purpose is to provide goods or services to an excursion gambling boat and whose majority ownership interest is held by a person licensed to conduct gambling games on an excursion gambling boat or licensed to operate an excursion gambling boat as provided in sections 313.800 to 313.850 ;

(14) "Major initiative" , a development project within a central business district that:

(a) Promotes tourism, cultural activities, arts, entertainment, education, research, arenas, multipurpose facilities, libraries, ports, mass transit, museums, or conventions, the estimated cost of which is in excess of the amount set forth below for the municipality, as applicable; or

(b) Promotes business location or expansion, the estimated cost of which is in excess of the amount set forth below for the municipality, and is estimated to create at least as many new jobs as set forth below within three years of such location or expansion:

(15) "Municipality" , any city, village, incorporated town, or any county of this state established on or prior to January 1, 2001, or a census-designated place in any county designated by the county for purposes of sections 99.915 to 99.1060 ;

(16) "New job" , any job defined as a new job pursuant to subdivision (11) of section 100.710 ;

(17) "Obligations" , bonds, loans, debentures, notes, special certificates, or other evidences of indebtedness issued by the municipality or authority, or other public entity authorized to issue such obligations pursuant to sections 99.915 to 99.980 to carry out a development project or to refund outstanding obligations;

(18) "Ordinance" , an ordinance enacted by the governing body of any municipality or an order of the governing body of such a municipal entity whose governing body is not authorized to enact ordinances;

(19) "Other net new revenues" , the amount of state sales tax increment or state income tax increment or the combination of the amount of each such increment as determined under section 99.960 ;

(20) "Out-of-state business" , a business entity or operation that has been located outside of the state of Missouri prior to the time it relocates to a development project area;

(21) "Payment in lieu of taxes" , those revenues from real property in each development project area, which taxing districts would have received had the municipality not adopted a development plan and the municipality not adopted development financing, and which would result from levies made after the time of the adoption of development financing during the time the current equalized value of real property in such development project area exceeds the total equalized value of real property in such development project area during the baseline year until development financing for such development project area expires or is terminated pursuant to sections 99.915 to 99.980 ;

(22) "Special allocation fund" , the fund of the municipality or its authority required to be established pursuant to section 99.957 which special allocation fund shall contain at least four separate segregated accounts into which payments in lieu of taxes are deposited in one account, economic activity taxes are deposited in a second account, other net new revenues are deposited in a third account, and other revenues, if any, received by the authority or the municipality for the purpose of implementing a development plan or a development project are deposited in a fourth account;

(23) "State income tax increment" , up to fifty percent of the estimate of the income tax due the state for salaries or wages paid to new employees in new jobs at a business located in the development project area and created by the development project. The estimate shall be a percentage of the gross payroll which percentage shall be based upon an analysis by the department of revenue of the practical tax rate on gross payroll as a factor in overall taxable income;

(24) "State sales tax increment" , up to one-half of the incremental increase in the state sales tax revenue in the development project area. In no event shall the incremental increase include any amounts attributable to retail sales unless the Missouri development finance board and the department of economic development are satisfied based on information provided by the municipality or authority, and such entities have made a finding that a substantial portion of all but a de minimus portion of the sales tax increment attributable to retail sales is from new sources which did not exist in the state during the baseline year. The incremental increase for an existing facility shall be the amount by which the state sales tax revenue generated at the facility exceeds the state sales tax revenue generated at the facility in the baseline year. The incremental increase in development project areas where the baseline year is the year following the year in which the development project is approved by the municipality pursuant to subdivision (2) of this section shall be the state sales tax revenue generated by out-of-state businesses relocating into a development project area. The incremental increase for a Missouri facility which relocates to a development project area shall be the amount by which the state sales tax revenue of the facility exceeds the state sales tax revenue for the facility in the calendar year prior to relocation;

(25) "State sales tax revenues" , the general revenue portion of state sales tax revenues received pursuant to section 144.020 , excluding sales taxes that are constitutionally dedicated, taxes deposited to the school district trust fund in accordance with section 144.701 , sales and use taxes on motor vehicles, trailers, boats and outboard motors and future sales taxes earmarked by law;

(26) "Taxing district's capital costs" , those costs of taxing districts for capital improvements that are found by the municipal governing bodies to be necessary and to directly result from a development project; and

(27) "Taxing districts" , any political subdivision of this state having the power to levy taxes.

(L. 2003 H.B. 289, A.L. 2004 S.B. 1331, A.L. 2005 H.B. 431, A.L. 2010 H.B. 1965, A.L. 2021 S.B. 153 & 97)