One of Illinois’ poorest communities says it is being overtaxed by one component of the state’s tax policy.
East St. Louis’ total property value has almost doubled in six years — growing at a rate nearly three times that of nearby Belleville’s. But this growth is mainly on paper, the result of a state-imposed tax multiplier. Instead of helping to lower the tax rate because more money is being generated, special conditions in East St. Louis have resulted in residents paying some of the highest taxes in St. Clair County.
The city’s assessed value increased from $42.8 million in 1990 to $82.6 million in 1995 — an increase of 93 percent. But the only major new growth during that time was the Casino Queen gambling boat. Its $4 million assessment first showed up on 1994 tax rolls.
According to St. Clair County tax records, three-fourths of the increase is attributed directly to the multiplier — a figure that raises assessments across the board and rolls the increases over year after year.
During the same six-year period, Belleville’s assessed value rose from $280.3 million to $371.9 million — an increase of 33 percent. But only about a third of this increase was due to a multiplier’s effects, according to tax records. Most occurred because of actual growth in property values or new construction.
“The multiplier has hit our city hard,” Mayor Gordon Bush said. “It’s a cruel statistic.”
East St. Louis Township’s multiplier for 1995 taxes, which were paid in 1996, was 1.12 — meaning all city property owners paid 12 percent more in taxes than the year before. A multiplier above 1.0 is set when property is thought to be underassessed. This factor, or multiplier, is set by the state for each county and is intended to bring the assessed value to the required one-third of market value.
Building permits rise in Canada
OTTAWA — The value of Canadian building permits rose a greater-than-expected 3.5 percent in November from October, reflecting an increase in residential construction, Statistics Canada said. The value of permits rose to $1.61 billion (in U.S. dollars) from October and jumped 15.3 percent from a year earlier.
November’s increase exceeded economists’ expectations of a 2.3 percent gain. The increase stemmed from a 9.3 percent rise in residential building intentions, Statistics Canada said.
Housing a key to Bosnia renewal
BRUSSELS — Housing and jobs are the cornerstones of reconstruction efforts in Bosnia-Herzegovina, an international donor conference was told. “If you have a home and a job, you have something that is a clear sign of normality in your community,” said Bosnian Trade Minister Hasan Muratovic. “These are the key aspects of rebuilding our country.
Muratovic was speaking at a news conference during a two-day international donor meeting on Bosnia-Herzegovina. Sponsored by the World Bank and the European Commission, the conference seeks to examine projects to attract aid totalling $5.1 billion over three years to help rebuild the war-ravaged federation.
World Bank officials said the international community had already pledged over $1.8 billion to Bosnia in 1996, of which $1.2 billion had been allocated to specific projects and some $720 million dispersed.
Bank official Christine Wallich said $1.4 billion would be needed for 1997.
The Brussels meeting aims to identify key areas and projects for international investment ahead of a donors pledging conference to be held later this year.
World Bank officials said they wanted to see some emphasis shift towards encouraging more private investment in the area, even to the extent of underwriting guarantees in the event of hostilities resuming.
High Boulder rents help outlying markets
BOULDER, Colo. — In the late 1970s, property manager Thomas Hast remembers, as many as 100 people might wait in line to see an apartment or small house to rent. Word was out that Boulder was a hip and beautiful place to live, and many people, including Hast, moved to town and made rental availability tight. Much tighter than it is now.
High desirability means high market value. Compounded with Boulder’s limited-growth policy, it means high rents — something the city is famous for.
In the past few years, Boulder rents have seemed to skyrocket, tough news for the 54 percent of Boulder residents who rent and occupy 60 percent of the available houses and apartments, according to the 1990 census.
The high prices in Boulder are fueling a boom in the east Boulder County rental market and making that nearby area and others more attractive to renters on a tight budget. Migration of renters out of Boulder may be the cause of a higher vacancy rate in the city this year.
Rents increased 40 percent for one-bedroom apartments in Boulder, from $441 to $616, while two bedrooms increased 34 percent, from $603 to $810.
Those levels are towering compared to elsewhere in the county. Rents for all Boulder apartments in 1996 averaged $736, while Broomfield averaged $634 and Longmont $583, according to the Apartment Association for Metro Denver.
Apartment construction has been booming in east Boulder County, with large complexes going up in Superior, Broomfield and Louisville.
Centex turning to apartments
DALLAS — Centex Corp., which already constructs more single-family homes than any other builder, is breaking new ground in the apartment development business. Centex will begin construction soon in Lewisville, Texas, on its first apartment community in almost 30 years.
The Dallas-based company hopes to use the $19 million Denton County development as a springboard into nationwide apartment construction.
“We’ve wanted for a number of years to get back into the multifamily housing business,” said Michael Vick, president of Centex’s new apartment division. “We think we have the right timing and location for our first project.”
Centex’s Vista Ridge Villas apartments will have 300 units on a 20-acre site. It is planned as the first phase of a much larger rental community with 1,250 apartments.
The first apartments in the development will range from 650 to 1,450 square feet and are scheduled for completion late this year and in early 1998. Centex expects to rent the apartments for about 90 cents per square foot.
Designed by JKW Architects, Vista Ridge Villas will include a large number of townhouse-style homes with attached garages.
Centex is building the Lewisville apartment community in a partnership with Dallas-based Corrigan Properties Inc. Corrigan will be the majority owner and manager of the project when it is completed.
Centex plans to sell all of its apartment projects upon completion.
Wisconsin seeing `renters’ paradise’
APPLETON, Wis. — Scan the classified listings for apartment rentals these days and you’ll see offers of free heat, free first month’s rent, even a free color TV. Apartment owners and managers say the Fox Cities is in the midst of a full-fledged apartment glut.
“It’s a renters’ paradise right now,” said the manager of one large apartment complex. She said her complex went from having a waiting list in the early 1990s to an occupancy rate as low as 78 percent at one point last year.
A combination of low interest rates and stepped-up multifamily building in recent years has created a tough market for apartment owners and put renters in the driver’s seat. The low interest rates have enabled renters to buy homes, and made it more affordable for developers to build new apartments that draw people from the older units.
“We’ve got very much of an overabundance of new units that have come on the market,” said Kathleen Allen, manager of the 200-unit London Place Apartments in the Town of Menasha and president of the Fox Valley Apartment Association.
To attract renters and avoid heating empty apartments, managers are offering free parking, free utilities, moving expenses, money off of the first month’s rent or the first month free with a one-year lease. One Neenah apartment is giving new renters the choice of a microwave oven or 19-inch color TV, without requiring a lease.
“Anything that can be perceived as an edge against the competition,” Allen explained.
Dave Kozlowski, who owns five duplexes and a rental house, said most places are experiencing 10 percent to 15 percent vacancy.
“You get less picky,” Kozlowski said, recounting stories of other landlords who relaxed their usual credit requirements, and got burned as a result.
Rents are actually declining. Kozlowski said he’s had to drop the rent for an upper flat he owns in Menasha from $375 a month to $325.
Another manager of a large number of apartments said the rental market started to go bad in 1995, but last year it became extremely difficult to keep apartments occupied or increase rents. He described the current market as “squishy.”
“All indications are that it’s going to continue for a while,” he said.
Home construction cools in Denver
DENVER — Home construction in metro Denver is headed for a flat 1996 finish after a year of ups and downs. Through November, permits for new residential construction were up 3.7 percent compared with 1995, and could end the year nearly dead even, analysts said.
The 1996 building market was characterized by a fast start, followed by a slower second half as Denver’s cooling economy reduced demand for new homes.
Through November, 17,990 permits were issued in Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Denver, Douglas, Elbert and Jefferson counties. Since 1980, permits for the metro Denver area have averaged about 16,000 per year.
Economists said job growth and the migration of new residents to Colorado slowed in 1996, and likely will decline further.
Residential permits fell sharply in Golden, down 250 percent from 1995 due to the city’s growth cap approved by voters in November 1995. The City of Denver showed an increase of 22 percent, according to the Home Builders Association of Metro Denver.
AIDS housing hits a snag
HAMMOND — Developers want to build a 20-unit apartment complex for low-income residents with HIV or AIDS, but city planners say the company’s past projects have left them with questions.
The St. Joseph House would offer one-bedroom and studio apartments for people with AIDS or HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The $1.3 million project would be built by Gough & Gough near Douglas Pointe, a low- to moderate-income housing project.
There is a definite need for such a complex, said Curt Ellis, executive director of the Aliveness Project of Northwest Indiana, which coordinates care for more than 200 HIV/AIDS patients in Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties.
