Dillards, Crestwood, and Taxes, Oh My!

As if on cue from my recent posts about St. Ann and Northwest Plaza, Dillard’s has announced it is closing its store in Crestwood Mall. From the Post-Dispatch: 

The city of Crestwood’s wallet will take a hit from Dillard’s exit. "In 2006, anchor stores at the mall generated about $486,000 in sales tax revenue from the city’s 1-cent sales tax only, so the loss of Dillard’s will definitely have a negative impact on the city’s sales tax performance in 2007 and beyond," Myers said in the statement. 

Crestwood has had a very interesting political history over the past few years, with hotly contested local elections, mayoral resignations, lawsuits with former city managers, and so on. Many of the problems come down to dealing with the issue of declining sales tax revenues from a mall that is no longer one of the premier malls in the area. If the sales tax pool were expanded, and "A" cities like Crestwood were forced both to contribute more to the pool, and receive a share back from it, too, places like Crestwood could benefit from growth in other parts of the county. Right now, most municipal officials who read this (if there are any) probably think it’s insane. I bet in 10 years it will be considered common sense.