Sifting Through Policy.

The City Council moved through a short agenda with relative ease Tuesday evening. Whether any votes were noticeably affected by the absence Council members Don Stearns and Larry Ross is unknown.

The approval of claims included a $9,316 request for reimbursement from the Carthage Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber contract with the City for tourism and promotion services amounts to approximately $88,000 this year .

Finance/Personnel Committee Chair Lujene Clark noted that a $600 claim for tourism information station radio spots was removed pending review by the Budget/Ways and Means Committee.

During the Finance/Personnel Committee meeting earlier in the day, Clark explained that during budget hearings last spring, the radio spots, which are broadcast from billboards located along high traffic highways in the area, were specifically removed from the Chamber’s request for funding. The spots appeared on a subsequent list of activities planned by the Chamber submitted to the Budget Committee for review after the budget was approved. The question deferred to the Budget Committee is whether spots were approved by the Committee at that subsequent meeting.

In other business, Economic Development Director Max McKnight requested that a Council bill be drawn to bring the Myers Park Development Plan into the City Code. Currently the guidelines for the development of the property are set up to be overseen by a Myers Park Committee. The Committee was originally intended to be filled with various property owners of the development. The City’s role in the long term management was to be reduced over time as property sold.

According to McKnight, a potential buyer for a partial of the Development property has some uneasiness with the possibilities in future years. McKnight told the Council that the potential buyer would be more comfortable if the various special requirements for development were put into the City Code. He said he thought the point could be a deal breaker with this buyer.

McKnight cited possible conflicts between business competitors on a future Committee as one of the concerns.

The Council voted 6-2, with Jackie Boyer and Lujene Clark against, to have McKnight present an ordinance for consideration. Council members Boyer and H.J. Johnson requested that a copy of the current Development Plan be included with the proposed ordinance in the next Council packet.

The Council was also presented with a request for endorsement of a proposed apartment building development just north of the existing apartments on Kimberly Lane. The endorsement helps the developer, Cohen-Esrey of Kansas City, obtain federal tax credit incentives administered by the State. The project would include 40 two and three bedroom units and rent for $320 to $400 per month.

The Council voted 5-3, with Council members J.D. Whitledge, H.J. Johnson, and Lujene Clark voting against.

Whitledge voiced his concern with the additional traffic that would be carried by Robin Lane and Kimberly Lane. No other access is proposed.

Clark asked if another site was considered or feasible for the project. The representative of the company said he did not have an alternate site.

According to the National Council of State Housing Agencies the Housing Credit is a tax credit to investors for 10 years for up to 9 percent of their cost of constructing or rehabilitating apartments dedicated to low income tenants at restricted rents. Every state receives Housing Credits each year equal to $1.25 times its population. Missouri allocates 100 percent of this amount in state Low-Income Housing Credits each year.

Housing Credits pay a portion of the cost of developing the low income, rent-restricted apartments. They cannot pay the cost of market rate apartments or land, some financing fees, development reserves, working capital, or grants. Housing Credit developments must rent at least (1) 40 percent of their apartments to tenants who earn incomes of 60 percent of median or less, or (2) 20 percent to tenants who earn 50 percent or less.

In practice, virtually all Housing Credit apartments rent to low income tenants, including 25 percent to tenants at 50 percent of median income or less, and many to families earning less than 30 percent.

MHDC developed a plan which sets criteria for judging Housing Credit developments against the state’s most pressing housing needs, giving priority to developments which serve (1) the lowest income families and (2) low income families for the longest periods of time. The plan must be consistent with the state’s overall housing plan, which HUD approves annually before a state gets any federal housing funds. Meeting Missouri’s Qualified Allocation Plan does not qualify a development for Housing Credits. Because demand for Housing Credit exceeds supply, developments compete for Housing Credits through an extensive and detailed allocation process

MHDC monitors all Housing Credit developments for their physical condition and compliance with tenant income and rent restrictions. Missouri staff reviews as many as 100 percent of tenant files and visit developments as often as annually and never less than biannually. MHDC must then report to the Internal Revenue Service any noncompliance they discover, so that the Service can decide whether to recapture Housing Credits from non-compliant owners.

In practice, Housing Credit-financed apartments are limited to low-income tenants for at least 30 years. About a third of them are permanently dedicated to low income use. Housing Credit apartments, on average, rent well below market rents for comparable apartments..

The investors must stretch the Housing Credit out in equal installments over 10 years. Take, for example, an apartment development costing $1 million to build. If the development gets the maximum 9 percent Housing Credit, the investors in the low income apartments can claim a total of $90,000 each year for 10 years against their taxes, a total of $900,000 ($90,000 x 10 years) over 10 years.

To raise the cash needed today to build the apartments, the developer engages a professional broker, called a syndicator. The syndicator markets the Housing Credits to the largest possible pool of potential investors to get the best price possible for them. Housing Credit investors decide how much they will pay by discounting the face value of the Housing Credits to reflect the 10 years they must wait to use them fully.

In light of investment alternatives available today, investors discount the value of a Housing Credit dollar to approximately 70 cents, to account for the fact that they must wait 10 years to get it back fully. That discount multiplied by the face amount of Housing Credits, determines how much an investor will pay a syndicator for them. In this case, $900,000 x .70 = $630,000. The syndicator gives the developer the proceeds to build the development, retaining a small part to cover the syndicator’s costs.

Syndicators must pay accountants, attorneys and their own personnel to provide the services necessary to assure investors that their money will be properly invested to claim the Housing Credit. They perform intensive financial underwriting and closely supervise developments to assure their continued compliance with the Housing Credit. In direct grant programs, such functions are performed by public agencies at considerable cost.

For example, the Community Development Block Grant program provides a 20 percent administrative fee to states and localities which administer it. The Housing Credit allows none. Housing Credit syndication is highly competitive, making it very unlikely that any developer is overpaying for syndicator services.

letters to the editor

Dear Editor,

The County Planning and Zoning item on the Nov. 2nd ballot has the potential of having a great impact on Jasper County citizens and the future land use and building construction of both commercial and private land.

The Jasper County Comprehensive Plan seems to have the best interest of the county in mind. However, if this is passed by the voters the future elected fifteen members of the Commission shall have the authority to put into effect many regulations that can effect both commercial and private landowners. This authority is given to the Commission under Missouri Statute Chapter 64. A free copy of Chapter 64 can be obtained by calling Mark Elliott's office, 1-800-371-5556.

Part of the items under Chapter 64 includes building specifications (both commercial and private), requiring permits and inspections of construction and alterations, setting fines for not complying with regulations, zoning land usage and the use of land for landfills.

Another concern is the cost of maintaining the Commission. The Commission would be funded by county tax dollars. Do the citizens need to start supporting a new commission now when county tax dollars are already stretched? The dollar amount of supporting Commission is not known. Just some of the basic expenses are office space, office equipment, forms, mailings, expenses of board members, inspectors and enforcement officers.

The State does not require that Jasper County have a planning and zoning commission. It is up to we citizens to decide if the county needs one now.

It may be a consoling feeling to know a fifteen member commission is looking out for the county's interest. However, this comes with a price tag of dollars and will cause loss of freedoms Jasper County residents now enjoy.

Rosalie Harmon

Carthage, MO

Just Jake Talkin'
Mornin',

I don’t pay much attention to professional baseball durin’ the regular season, but try to catch a little of the playoffs and the World Series. In the third game - extra innings - tied 5-5, a Yankee bunted to advance the runner on first. The ball popped up and the batter stood at the plate watchin’ in discussed. The runner, thinkin’ the ball would be caught, held on first. The first baseman let the ball drop, legal for bunted fly balls.

The throw to second caught the runner and by the time the batter figured out what was goin’ on, he was thrown out at first. A classic example of what not to do.

One a the first things I learned from good coaches was to do one thing when ya hit the ball. RUN! Don’t try to second guess, don’t feel sorry for yourself, make the best of it. Oops.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

Metcalf Auto Supply

Click and Clack Talk Cars.

Dear Tom and Ray:

When are you supposed to check your oil, when the engine is warm or when the engine is cold? —Paul

TOM: That's an excellent question, Paul. We've always told people to check the oil level first thing in the morning when the engine is cold.

RAY: There were several reasons for this. First of all, when the engine is cold, all of the oil has had a chance to drip down from the top of the engine and settle in the oil pan, where it's measured by the dipstick. That way you're getting a true and accurate reading of exactly how much oil resides in the engine.

TOM: And second, when you check the oil first thing in the morning, you have the added convenience of being able to use your flannel PJs to wipe off the dipstick.

RAY: But a few years ago, Ford Motor Company started recommending that people check their oil on Fords, Lincolns and Mercuries when the engine is warm.

TOM: "Warm!" we said. "How can this be?" So we called Ford and they told us that they determined that very few idiots like us were going out first thing in the morning in their bare tootsies and checking the oil. Most people, they said, tended to check their oil when they stopped for gas, when the engine was warm. So they simply recalibrated their dipsticks to read correctly in a warm engine, when the oil has heated up and expanded.

RAY: So our advice is to follow the instructions in your owner's manual when you're in the mood for a really accurate reading. If it says to check the oil cold, the dipstick has been calibrated for cold, unexpanded oil. If it says to check it hot, just take a little cruise and then check it.