ST. LOUIS — The City of Kirkwood is eyeing the creation of a special taxing district that would raise $5 million each year for infrastructure improvements.
The city said it has filed a petition, along with the Downtown Kirkwood Special Business District, to form a citywide transportation development district. A city spokesman, Freddy Doss, said it would raise $5 million annually through a 1% sales tax increase. Sales tax rates in Kirkwood currently sit between 9.2% and 10.2%, depending on the area.
A majority of Kirkwood voters would have to approve of the TDD's creation in a November election.
The TDD would be run by a board with representatives from the city and the Downtown Kirkwood Special Business District, Doss said.
He said the money would go to "the repair, rehabilitation, maintenance, enhancement, construction and reconstruction of streets, alleys, roadways, sidewalks, curbs gutters, public parking lots, and parking structures that are owned, leased or within easements maintained by the city, and multi-modal facilities to include shared use paths, pedestrian and bicycle paths, pedestrian railroad crossings, and bus stops and bus shelters."
Doss said when the city conducts a survey every two years, the No. 1 concern is streets. Currently, he said, the city spends $1.8 million a year on a street restoration program and $150,000 on a sidewalk improvement program.
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