City Attorney Clarifies Explanation of 353 Redevelopment Plan

Sedalia City Attorney Joseph Lauber has issued a lengthy statement concerning the Chapter 353 Redevelopment Plan Midtown Residential Area.

The press release was sent just after midnight Friday morning, and noted that the City Council, during its final regular meeting of 2024, held a public hearing Monday night concerning expansion of the 353 Plan, which would increase the redevelopment area by 296 parcels.

353 was originally approved on May 18, 2020, and declared certain areas to be blighted and therefore eligible for state funds.

“353” refers to the chapter in the Revised Statutes of Missouri that talks about these financial incentives used as a tool to assist property owners in making improvements to their properties, Lauber explained.

Sedalia’s Chapter 353 Redevelopment Plan does not make tax abatements the primary source for these incentives, Lauber said.

Instead, the City of Sedalia has for the past 10 years, has budgeted City funds totaling $500,000 for property owners in the redevelopment area to use to make improvements to their property with no impact on neighboring taxing jurisdictions.

Tax abatements are available to those property owners seeking them, Lauber noted, and “the City has a process for them to follow to obtain abatements, which will, in part, include a tax impact statement to be provided to affected taxing jurisdictions.”

When it came time to vote on expanding 353, First Ward Councilman Tom Oldham asked how Chapter 353 tax abatements incentives work. An associate of the City Attorney’s office answered that tax abatement is not available under the existing plan.

Lauber stated that the associate’s answer was incorrect and incomplete.

Tax abatement can be granted pursuant to a redevelopment agreement between the City and a private property owner, provided the property owner submits a proposal and plan in accordance with State Statute Chapter 353, RSMo, and the City’s ordinances.

The answer that the Lauber associate gave prompted Sedalia Mayor Andrew Dawson to immediately call for postponement of the vote on the expansion until the Council’s next meeting, which is Jan. 6.

Participation in the program is completely voluntary, Lauber emphasized, and 353 is not a “land grab” by the City.

“If an applicant requests and is granted tax abatements, state statutes require the property to be sold to the 353 Corporation to trigger abatements. The property is then immediately sold back to the property owner as only a temporary transfer is required for tax abatements to begin,” Lauber said.