Tagged: North St. Louis

A federal grant of $4.2 million has been awarded to the Missouri Department of Mental Health, which will spend the money on kids in north St. Louis.

The money will be used for a variety of mental health services, including screenings and assessments for children, as well as home visitations to teach skills to parents.

St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay said north St. Louis was chosen for a reason.

Gov. Jay Nixon says he is not including the expansion of a tax credit for assembling and maintaining large swaths of land in his planned call for a special legislative session.

Nixon and lawmakers have been working on an agreement for an economic development package. One part of the lawmakers' proposal would remove the time limit for the tax credit program while offering fewer credits annually.

The tax credits are being used by a developer, Paul McKee, who has promised a multi-billion dollar makeover for north St. Louis.

In March, the Missouri Supreme Court heard a case regarding the constitutionality of a state tax credit which, as we stated then, enabled St. Louis developer Paul McKee to buy up several tracts of land on the city’s north side.

At that time, McKee had received $28 million in tax credits for his NorthSide project and St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay signed off on the project in February.

Today, the Missouri Supreme Court said that the tax credit is, indeed, constitutional.

When the case was heard in March, attorney Irene Smith, who represents plaintiffs and North St. Louis residents Barbara Manzara and Keith Marquard,  said that the tax credit violates the state constitution by giving state tax dollars to private business interests.

The Supreme Court cited a couple different reasons for their decision.