So what, exactly would happen to the City of St. Michael’s bottom line should the former Cinemagic Theater site become a, presumably, tax-exempt church such as Riverside?
That question has been on residents’ minds since June, when Riverside began pushing for the purchase of the former theater with a letter to the St. Michael City Council, submitted by its attorney.
Last year, the city collected just over $425 of United Bankers Bank’s more than $115,000 tax bill for 2013 (the theater was bank-owned last year).
This year, that falls to just $404, payable by Cinemasota, which purchased the building last spring. Or, should Riverside get its wish and complete the purchase of the property by the end of this year, it could go out the window.
But what about the rest of the $2.5 million property’s (valuation provided by Wright County) remaining tax bill?
Well, the Elk River School District (it lies within District 728 boundaries, according to its tax statement) would take an annual hit of around $5,000. In 2014, United Bankers paid more than $4,700 to the district for voter-approved levies, and another $865 for “other local levies.”
The state would lose more than $30,000 annually, if Riverside filed to make the property exempt, as well.
But the biggest loss would be to a TIF district established to help improve the theater site when it was constructed more than seven years ago. That district is due a $78,600 payment next year, after getting more than $79,000 from the bank last year.
Jeff Byboth says
Wow, taxes are not going where I expect. I thought cinemagic taxes would go to STMA, Elk river is much further away. And The outlet mall is also in Elk River School district right? Seems like our tax dollars are not going to where you expect. Maybe a reason why STMA school funding is so low.
yukon7 says
So I pulled the real estate tax statements of the other business locations at that intersection. Here’s my findings:
Same side of 241:
Super America = 68.6% TIF, 26.5% State, 4.1% School Distr 728, 0.4% County, 0.4% City
Part of Theatre Parking Lot = 68.3% TIF, 26.4% State, 4.6% School Distr 728, 0.4% County, 0.4% City
The parcel the Theatre sits on is almost identical to SuperAmerica
Other side of 241:
Kwik Trip = 28.3% TIF, 26.5% State, 19.2% School Distr 728, 13.1% County, 12.6% City
Land across from Kwik Trip = 40.5% TIF, 0.0% State, 22.3% School Distr 885, 18.7% County, 18.1% City
So, to summarize….$264K total real estate tax…$145K goes to TIF, $65K goes to State, $14K goes to County, $14K goes to City, $21K goes to District 728, and $5K goes to District 885.
Why wouldn’t all these properties be similar? What is the driving factor that allocates the total real estate tax of these properties? Why does District 728 get allocated all but one of these properties?
Whatever the answers are to these questions, it reassures my opinion that there are too many governing bodies involved, as in many similar situations.