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From The President
Rehab Tax Credit
Excerpts From A Report From The U.S. Senate
'Twas The Night Before Christmas
Furnace Maintenance
Water Heater Maintenance
Next Meeting and Agenda
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FROM THE PRESIDENT - Patty Hofer
 The weather this fall has been kind to us. I hope you are enjoying it. Thank you to everyone who attended our September meeting. It is very gratifying to both guest speakers and organizer to have a nice crowd.
Our speakers, Dr. Larry Fields, Director of Health and Ron Smith, Building Commissioner discussed the problem of and solution to lead paint poisoning. The city is asking property owners to keep the paint in our units in pristine condition. No chipped or peeling paint anywhere and there are no consequences. We did get enough copies of the Greater St Louis Lead Guide for each of our members to have one. They will be available at the November meeting.
My last word on lead paint poisoning is that the Health Department and Southwest Garden Neighborhood Association will have a demonstration apartment at 4015A Shaw Avenue on Saturday, November 13 from 11am until 2pm. Areas of the unit will be labeled with possible citations for lead. There will be a demonstration of the city's $24,000 lead testing machine. Organizers also expect to have ballpark estimates of prices for remediation of lead tainted areas. Telephone Floyd Wright (314) 771-3271 for more information.
Your board has been very busy promoting this association at the CCBF Business Fair, EHOC Annual Meeting, Home Builders' Show Cityfest and other meetings. We need more members to participate. Most of the board works full-time, so we need people who can get away for a time during business hours, then report back to the board and members about what the other groups are doing.
One such organization is the St Louis Lead Coalition. One of their goals is to sue landlords. The "coalition" does not have any property owners on their board, so they do not understand that rental property is different from single family ownership. It would be nice to have a number of experienced housing providers at their meetings to explain the limitations under which we must work. Please call me (314) 352-9140 if you can help.
We also need more board members and some new officers. We have elections coming in 2000, but it is nice to join the board early so one can get a sense of how we all work together.
Dues is due. Treasurer, Cecelia Rauls will accept your check at the November meeting or you may mail the $20 check to her as you pay other bills.
As part of our mission, "To maintain and improve property values, in partnership with the community; to attract quality tenants and to have safe, desirable neighborhoods." we include in this issue applications for community groups in the Carondelet/Holly Hills area. Especially if one does not live close to rental units, it is nice to know the people who do live near your property. The neighbors can tell you a whole lot more then the people to whom you rent will ever say. Knowing other people in the area helps an owner keep quality residents. Please consider joining these groups if only to receive their newsletters. We also hope that neighborhood concern from non-resident property owners will help dispel the Snidely Whiplash connotation of the word landlord. We also encourage you to give copies of the applications to all your tenants. Involved tenants who care about their neighborhoods also care about their homes, which in fact, are your buildings.
We hope to have speakers from agencies needing housing at the November meeting. Please plan to attend.
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REHAB TAX RELIEF
On July 8, 1999, Governor Mel Carnahan signed Senate Bill 20, the Neighborhood Preservation Act, which is designed to help revitalize older neighborhoods by providing tax credits for home rehabilitation and construction of in-fill housing.
Eligibility is based on the location of the property. All owner-occupied property in the City of St. Louis is eligible for the program. The income of the taxpayer is not a factor.
There are three types of credits available:
Rehabilitation -- A 25% tax credit on a minimum expenditure of $5,000 for rehabilitation of a St. Louis City home that is at least 40 years old. There is a maximum of $25,000 in credits per home.
Substantial Rehabilitation -- A 35% tax credit on a minimum expenditure of 50% of the base value of the property, which must be in the City of St. Louis and be 50 years old. Credits cannot exceed $70,000 per unit.
New Construction -- A 15% tax credit for construction of an owner-occupied home in the City of St. Louis. No more than $40,000 in credits can be awarded per house during a ten-year period.
Tax credits may be applied to the past three years of tax returns and to the next five years of tax returns. In addition, tax credits may be transferred, assigned or sold.
The program is limited to property that is owner-occupied or will be sold to an owner occupant within one year.
The program will start on January 1, 2000. Expenditures made before that date are not eligible for tax credits. Further, because the amount of tax credits is limited, application must be made to the Missouri Department of Economic Development. The Department is currently in the process of creating applications for the program.
Here is how the tax credit would work for a typical family with a $4,000 state tax bill. If they spent $10,000 renovating their home, they would get a $2,500 tax credit. So, their state tax bill would be reduced to $1,500. The credit can be carried back three tax years and carried forward five years if a family cannot redeem the full credit in any given year.
from the Holly Hills Improvement Assn. Neighborhood News
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EXCERPTS FROM A REPORT FROM THE U.S. SENATE
- John Korst
OK, so we're all tired of hearing about the Y2K problem, but at the end of September a committee of the U.S. Senate - The Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem - released a 200-plus page report entitled: Investigating the Year 2000 Problem: The 100 Day Report that was very serious in its tone.
You might want to read it. It is available from the Government Printing Office (202-512-1800) for $28 or on the web by clicking here. What follows is excerpted from the Personal Preparedness section.
"…(W)e find…that the Y2K problem is very real and will indeed have a profound impact on us…
"...The best advise the Committee can give is that individuals must take charge of their own Y2K lives...
"Be Informed: Ask (all) your utilities about their Y2K status… If you are dissatisfied with their responses, atke the steps you deem necessary to ensure that you can weather several days without these utilities. Ask your local officials what the police, fire, and emergency medical services have done to prepare for Y2K…
"Be an Educated Consumer: Contact manufacturers of your household appliances to verify the Y2K status of those appliances. Check with your doctor, pharmacist, broker, grocer, and others who provide you with essential services about what they have done to prepare for Y2K and how they plan to continue providing you these services.
"Supplies: …At a minimum, these supplies include flashlights and batteries, warm blankets, sufficient nonperishable canned and packaged food items to last several days, and any other supplies deemed necessary by that household...
"Finances: ...Visit or call your financial institutions to learn about their Y2K plans. Save receipts and get paper copies of bank and loan statements and other transactions. Monitor these documents for several months into the New Year for any possible Y2K-related errors. Talk to your employer about … the payroll system… Take Y2K readiness into account when making any investments.
"Travel Smart: If you plan to travel over the new year, obtain written confirmation of your reservations directly from the provider as well as from your travel agent. Factor Y2K into your travel plans much as you would any other disruptions… If travelling abroad, check with the State Department for Y2K alerts.
"Beware of Scams: Con artists are already exploiting Y2K fears. Be wary of goods and services touted as Y2K guaranteed. Be aware of anyone attempting to sell you unnecessary products such as massive food supplies, dubious types of water treatment kits, or other Y2K "personal preparedness items Never give out personal financial information over the phone unless you iniate the call and are sure the person you call is legitimate. Report any attempts to solicit this information to the police.
"The Committee remains concerned that inadequate media coverage of the Y2K problem or unwarranted 'hype' may lead to unnecessary panic. Such panic has the real potential to lead to problems that may well exceed the severity of the Y2K problem, including runs on financial institutions and shortages of food, medication, and other essential supplies. The Committee strongly believes that responsible citizens should begin now to educate themselves about the degree to which they need to prepare, and to begin making their purchases now, over the course of the next few months, instead of waiting until the last week of 1999."
So says the United States Senate and may God help us all.
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'TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS (A Modern Tale)
'Twas the night before Christmas and Santa's a wreck . . .
How to live in a world that's politically correct?
His workers no longer would answer to "Elves",
"Vertically challenged" they were calling themselves.
And labor conditions up at the North Pole
Were alleged by the union to stifle the soul.
Four reindeer had vanished, without much propriety,
Released to the wilds by the Humane Society.
And equal employment had made it quite clear
That Santa had better not use just reindeer.
So Dancer and Donner, Comet and Cupid,
Were replaced with four pigs, and you know that looks stupid.
The runners had been removed from his sleigh;
The ruts were termed dangerous by the EPA.
And people had started to call for the cops
They heard the sled noises up on their rooftops.
When he kicked back and lit up his pipe
It caused quite a commotion, many a gripe
The second-hand smoke had his workers quite frightened.
His fur-trimmed red suit was called "unenlightened".
And to show you the strangeness of life's ebbs and flows,
Rudolph was suing for unauthorized use of his nose
And had gone on Geraldo, in front of the nation,
Demanding millions in overdue compensation.
So, half of the reindeer were gone; and his wife,
Who suddenly said she'd had enough of this life,
Joined a self-help group, packed and left in a whiz,
Demanding from now on her title was Ms.
And as for the fits, why, he'd ne'er had a notion
That making a choice could cause such a commotion.
Nothing of leather, nothing of fur,
Which meant nothing for him. And nothing for her.
Nothing that might be construed to pollute.
Nothing to aim. Nothing to shoot.
Nothing that clamored or made lots of noise.
Nothing for just girls. Or just for the boys.
Nothing that claimed to be gender specific.
Nothing that's warlike or non-pacific.
No candy or sweets . . . they were bad for the tooth.
Nothing that seemed to embellish a truth.
And fairy tales, while not yet forbidden,
Were like Ken and Barbie, better off hidden.
For they raised the hackles of those psychological
Who claimed the only good gift was one ecological.
No baseball, no football . . . someone could get hurt;
Besides, playing sports exposed kids to dirt.
Dolls said to be sexist, and should be passe;
And Nintendo would rot your poor brain away.
So Santa just stood there, disheveled, perplexed;
He couldn't figure what to do next.
He tried to be merry, tried to be gay,
But you've got to be careful with that word today.
His sack was quite empty, limp to the ground;
Nothing fully acceptable was to be found.
Something special was needed, a gift that he might
Give to all without angering the left or the right.
A gift that would satisfy, with no indecision.
Each group of people, every religion
Every ethnicity, every hue,
Everyone, everywhere . . . even you.
So here is that gift, its price beyond worth .
'May you and your loved ones enjoy Peace on Earth."
(c)1996 Harvey Ehrlich.
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FURNACE MAINTENANCE
Once a Month
Change or clean filters. To determine how dirty the filters are, hold them up. If you can easily see light through them, then they're still clean enough to use.
Inspect the furnace for worn, shiny and sagging belts. They cause undue stress on the fan motor. Repairs require loosening the motor chassis mounts and sliding the motor back enough to make the belt taut and aligned with the fan.
If necessary, vacuum the blower and blower area, and clean blower blades with a brush. Use the crevice tool to clean the air grills to make sure they're not clogged.
Once a Year
Get a full checkup (around $130, plus parts) before the start of the heating season. At a minimum, the technician should check the fan controls, air filters, blower belt, belt alignment and ducts. He should also check and adjust the burner flame, if necessary. He should clean and tune the unit, and inspect, repair or replace as necessary the following: fuel nozzle, oil filter, electrodes, pump strainer and pump gaskets, fuel pump, fuses in the burner circuit, thermostat and transformer.
If you're heating forced air with oil, the tune-up should also include a check of the fan controls, air filters and blower belt and ducts. Lubricate the motor with five drops of SAE 20 non-detergent oil. Don't overfill.
If you have a hot-water system with radiators or baseboard convectors, bleed the air from the system so hot water can fill all the chambers. Use a coffee can to catch the water runoff. Turn the bleed valve with a radiator key or screwdriver. When the air stops hissing and water runs out, close the valve.
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WATER HEATER MAINTENANCE
Two Times a Year
Drain and flush sediment, which reduces efficiency and causes rumbling, from the tank. (Do this monthly if the level of sediment in your water is high.) To drain the tank, turn off the water supply at the tank top, hook a hose to the spigot at the base, open a hot-water tap anywhere in the house and open the spigot. When the tank is drained, turn on the water supply at the tank top and let it run until the water draining out is clear. Close the spigot and turn off the tap.
Once a Year
Check the pressure-relief valve to make sure this crucial safety device isn't clogged. To relieve any over-pressurization in the tank, place a bucket beneath the copper overflow pipe where it hangs near the floor. Carefully push the relief valve at the top and a burst of hot water should spray out of the pipe. If not, the valve needs to be replaced.
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NEXT MEETING
Place: Southern Commercial Bank - 5515 S. Grand
[ map ]
Date: Monday, November 15, 1999
Time: 6:30pm - 9:00pm
AGENDA TOPICS
6:30 - 7:00 Social
7:00 - 7:05 Welcome
7:05 - 7:15 Business Update/Aldermanic Report
7:15 - 8:00 tba
8:00 - 8:30 Jim Magnus
8:30 - 8:55 Discussion of Members Concerns
8:55 - 9:00 Raffle
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