NEOSHO, Mo. —
The Newton County Commission will conduct a public hearing today regarding the proposed creation of a Community Improvement District in the northwestern corner of the county near Downstream Casino Resort.
Commissioner Jerry Black said the district is intended to fund infrastructure that would support two new businesses — a large convenience store and an RV park — to be built on land owned by the Quapaw Tribe, owner of Downstream Casino. Black said the taxing district, if approved, also would be used to improve the interchange at Interstate 44 and U.S. Highway 166/400.
According to the Missouri Department of Economic Development’s website, a CID is a subdivision that can fund infrastructure improvements through a property tax or through a sales tax collected by businesses within the district. Black said the tribe, which is the sole landowner within the proposed district, wants to impose a 1 percent sales tax to pay for improvements.
Sales tax revenue collected within a CID also can be used to construct water and sewer lines, stormwater drainage, lighting, parking lots and other infrastructure needed to promote economic development.
Black said the tribe initially requested commissioners’ approval for a Tax Increment Financing district, but he said the commission did not think the property met the criteria for a TIF district.
“A TIF district is intended for blighted areas,” he said. “The commission felt that this is not a blighted area, and we felt that the county didn’t need to give up half of our sales tax revenue from that area to help them develop it. We think that area would develop without it.”
Presiding Commissioner Marilyn Ruestman said she does not think there will be objections form the public.
“I anticipate that we won’t have any major complaints, because if there were, we would have heard something by now,” she said. “Barring anything major, I think the commission will vote to approve it.”
The current sales tax rate in Newton County, outside any municipality, is 5.1 percent. If the CID is approved, the sales tax rate within its boundaries would be 6.1 percent.
Hearing
A public hearing on the proposed taxing district is set for 10:30 a.m. today in the County Commission chambers at the Newton County Courthouse in Neosho.
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