KBIA Local
(2009-10-06)
Listen Now:
COLUMBIA, MO
(KBIA) -
The Columbia City Council is giving the green light for the city's first tax increment finance project. Council last night unanimously approved the plans for the Tiger Hotel. The developer wants to turn the building into a boutique hotel. The project is estimated to cost about 9-million dollars. Now that the council has approved the TIF, the developer can make the improvements without paying additional taxes. The money the developer saves can then go back to finance a portion of the project. Craig Van Matre is an attorney representing the Tiger Hotel developer. He says the Council was considering TIF assistance to certain key downtown projects.
null
"They enacted an ordinance and allowed us to petition then for a benefit under that ordinance which will allow a certain amount of the increased taxes that will be generated from this project to be used to finance part of that project"
Opponents of TIF have included the Columbia Public School Board and the Columbia Apartment Association. Some say the city needs the additional taxes that the Tiger Hotel would be exempt from. Others say public money should not finance private projects. But Councilmembers last night said schools will be getting more money if the project is successful. They say not only will the Tiger Hotel bring in additional tax revenue, but the value of the property around it will also go up. © Copyright 2012, KBIA
