Opponents blast tax plan for Hannibal

Doubts are being voiced about creating a new tax to pay for improvements in the oldest part of Hannibal.
The Downtown Hannibal Development Corporation next week is expected to choose a funding plan and ask property owners to vote on it.
The move is the first step in setting up a Community Improvement District that would spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on 17 projects in the next five years.
Supporters say the new revenue stream is vital to completing enhancements that will attract more visitors and bring in more dollars.
Opponents say now is not the right time to increase taxes and that there’s not enough support for such an ambitious plan.
The decision will affect about 2,400 property owners in the area bordered by the Mississippi River, Grand Avenue, U.S. 36 and Bear Creek.
Options for a funding mechanism are a one-cent sales tax, a special property tax assessment or a combination.
Only property owners in the improvement district would be subject to it.

Reaction mixed
The plan has drawn mixed reactions.
Supporters point to all of the development that’s taken place downtown in the three years since the DREAM Initiative began.
DREAM is an acronym for Downtown Revitalization and Economic Assistance for Missouri.
The state program provides help with planning and financial assistance in revitalizing downtowns.
Public dollars have been part of a baseball stadium renovation and apartment upgrades for seniors, while private investment has led to the opening of a cinema and several retailers.
Wesley Knapp was hired as downtown development director in April 2008, and said the improvement district would help keep the ball rolling.
“Nobody likes tax increases, but there’s a time for them,” Knapp said. “When everything else has been tried, we need to go with this.”
“You can’t sit on your laurels,” agreed Scott Meyer, a corporation board member and co-owner of River City Restorations. “It’s important to get a good, solid program going that will invest and re-invest.”
“We have all the ingredients,” added Kristy Trevathan, a corporation board member and downtown property owner. “We’ve already proved investment in downtown works...and there can be more. We have to have a funding mechanism to keep these projects going.”
Local preservationist Bob Yapp, who lives in the improvement district, supports the concept.
Yapp said he has worked with similar districts in communities where they’ve been successful, but isn’t convinced one will work in Hannibal.
“I don’t think there’s enough confidence in the organization,” Yapp said. “It could happen down the road, but I don’t think we’re ready.”
Others say the corporation hasn’t made any significant progress in the last 18 months. They want to see proof that the extra fees they pay will be used wisely.
“We really need to see some timelines to see what has been done so far,” said Julie Rolsen of The Main Street Kitchen and vice president of the Historic Hannibal Marketing Council. “If there has been something accomplished, we’d like to see it.”
“Improvements are great and that’s what we were promised with the DREAM Initiative, but we’re not seeing it,” said Carla Chlebanowski, co-owner with her husband, Michael, of the Rooster’s Crow Art Center. “Until someone keeps their promise and follows through on improvements, I’m not for putting up money for any new improvements.”

Lengthy list
The list of proposed work features the simple and the sophisticated.
There would be everything from new signs and sidewalks to a beautified Central Park and a retail business incubator.
The Broadway corridor would be upgraded the way Main Street has been from Broadway to North Street.
The full lineup is available at www.downtownhannibal.com.
“I think the bottom line is we’ve identified a whole list of potential needs that would help the downtown and the city of Hannibal prosper,” Meyer said. “We’ve seen the success in many other communities. It’s going to create huge economic benefits.”
The corporation is non-profit agency that’s supported by a DREAM Initiative grant, fund-rasers and donations. The annual budget is about $55,000, of which $50,000 is Knapp’s salary.
The funding mechanism is so important, Knapp said, because the first 17 projects are just the beginning.
The corporation has outlined another 34 objectives it would like to accomplish.
“This is our opportunity to fund those projects and see them come to a reality,” Knapp said.
A simple majority of property owners would have to endorse a funding mechanism before it would go to the City Council for a routine endorsement.
The state would then set up the district and notify property owners of the higher tax.

‘Taxed to death’
One of the biggest concerns for opponents is the effect on business.
The city’s sales tax rate already is 8.6 cents.
Merchants who would be in the improvement district claim adding another penny would cut into their profits and put them at a competitive disadvantage with businesses elsewhere in the city.
“As a business owner, we’re just being taxed to death,” said Dave Miller of Ralls County Clock Company on Main Street. “It’s gotta stop. It’s out of hand.”
Even some in the corporation have doubts.
Board member Beau Hicks would consider a special property tax assessment, but said a higher sales tax would be “a stigma against downtown, which has taken off so well in the last few years.”
Knapp said other communities had not noticed a decrease in business due to targeted sales taxes.
He also pointed to Hannibal’s largest retailer, Walmart, where the sales tax already is 9.6 cents because of infrastructure improvements that were made to the area.
“I don’t see people going over to Quincy to go to Walmart” because of the additional penny, Knapp said.
Opponents of both property and sales taxes suggest alternatives such as a hike in the city’s 6 percent bed tax, which is paid by visitors to Hannibal inns and generates about $400,000 a year.
However, the improvement district would have no say over the city-controlled tax, and Hicks said he would oppose any increase.
“The bed tax is high enough and wouldn’t create enough revenue, anyway,” Knapp said.

What’s next
The corporation board meets at 4 p.m. Tuesday at LulaBelle’s restaurant, 111 Bird.
Knapp urged merchants to look at the big picture and see the district as a way to “create our projects without being dependent on the city” and to make enhancements “that will bring more people here to spend money.”
Trevathan said she hasn’t decided which option is best, but believes doing nothing would be a step back.
“We need to get out of our tunnel vision,” she said. “I’m not going to say which way to go, but I believe in Hannibal and I believe downtown is worth investing in.”