JOPLIN, Mo. —
The Joplin City Council tonight will consider taking another step that would help the master developer get some of the proposed projects for Joplin off the ground.
The council will consider a contract that would allow Wallace Bajjali Development Partners, of Sugar Land, Texas, to work with a city board to acquire property for the proposed tornado recovery projects.
That board is the Joplin Redevelopment 353 Corp.
City Attorney Brian Head said the contract specifies what services the master developer is to provide.
“They are going to provide acquisition services. They are going to provide due diligence services like obtaining title insurance, and they will manage the properties while they are held and assist with the disposition of them” through the 353 board, Head said.
He also said the contract is contingent on the Joplin Redevelopment Corp. receiving funding to buy properties. Head said he does not yet know what the source of that funding is to be.
The Wallace Bajjali firm would get paid 5.75 percent of the cost of the transactions for its services. The contract term is for five years, Head said.
Wallace Bajjali has outlined 19 projects that would cost $794 million if they were all constructed. The largest project includes 1,300 new houses. Also on the list are a performing arts complex, Union Depot restoration, a larger public library combined with a theater, a hotel and convention center, and more.
Tax rate
A public hearing will be held tonight on Joplin’s property tax rate.
The proposed levy would increase less than 1 cent per $100 assessed valuation, going from 40.66 cents this fiscal year to 41.65 cents. The city’s fiscal year starts Nov. 1.
Most of the levy, 25.45 cents, goes to the Joplin Public Library for its operations. That is the same rate as the current fiscal year’s levy, as specified by Missouri law. The increase will be in the city’s portion of the rate, which would go from 15.21 to 16.20 cents per $100 valuation.
Joplin’s property tax provides slightly more than 1 percent of the city’s general revenues, and helps pay some of the costs for the Joplin Health and Welfare fund administered by the health department, the parks and recreation fund and the solid waste management fund.
The change would increase the city tax for a home valued at $100,000 by $1.88, to $79.14.
Although the rate will go up slightly, the property tax is expected to generate less revenue overall than last year’s total because of the loss of properties as a result of the May 22, 2011, tornado.
Mark your calendar
The Joplin City Council meets at 6 p.m. today on the fifth floor of City Hall, 602 S. Main St.
Local News
Joplin City Council to consider contract to advance redevelopment plans
- Local News
-
-
Jasper County to start enforcing newly adopted nuisance ordinance
Jasper County has received 15 complaints based on a new nuisance ordinance adopted earlier this spring, members of the County Commission said Tuesday. John Bartosh, presiding commissioner, said he and the other commissioners reviewed the complaints during a meeting last week with workers at the Jasper County Health Department.
-
Neosho School Board votes to boost custodians’ salaries
Action taken Monday night by the Neosho Board of Education on salaries was designed partly to retain custodians. The measure approved by the board gives custodians, with a starting salary of $8.77 an hour, a 10 percent raise.
-
Mike Pound: Carthage holding parties for a good cause
When my wife told me that we were going to host a party, I had only one question: Why? My wife might be the party-hosting sort of person, but I am not. She said this party was for a good cause. She also told me that our friends Lana and Bill, Lee Ann and Rob, and Amy and Jimmy were going to help host it.
-
Proposal would reduce 20th Street to two lanes
A design proposal that would convert much of 20th Street into two lanes instead of four from Main Street to Campbell Parkway to make room for streetscape and green features did not draw much public support on Tuesday.
-
Local runners show support for Boston in cross-country relay
After completing the Boston Marathon on April 15, Ashleigh Beyersdorfer made her way through the throngs of runners to retrieve the bag she had checked in and was on her way to meet up with her family when she heard the explosions.
-
MSSU board to complete terms of president’s departure
The Board of Governors of Missouri Southern State University will meet Wednesday to complete the terms of the agreement that terminated President Bruce Speck’s contract, board Chairwoman Sherry Buchanan said.
-
State’s key witness testifies in murder trial
The fate of Dustin Boggs may ultimately depend on the credibility of Arturo Council. If jurors believe Council, then Boggs, 25, could be convicted of first-degree murder in the 2012 stabbing and shooting death of his ex-girlfriend, Danyel Borden, 21, at his trial this week in Ottawa County District Court.
-
Swimmers attempt to set world record
Even before the instructor had finished giving his direction to the class of young swimmers, 4-year-old Alexa DeBerry had dunked herself underwater and had come up giggling.
-
Missouri moves to lift ban on foreign farm owners
Weeks before a Chinese conglomerate agreed to buy Smithfield Foods Inc. in the largest such takeover of a U.S. business, Missouri lawmakers quietly approved legislation removing a ban on foreign ownership of agricultural land.
-
Neosho Board of Education approves 10 percent raise in effort to keep custodians
School custodians are receiving the biggest percentage raise among salaries approved Monday by the Neosho Board of Education.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Jasper County to start enforcing newly adopted nuisance ordinance
