Readers: Year Later Conditions ‘Slightly Better’ In Ferguson

In the Sunday Poll readers indicated conditions were “slightly better” than they were just before Mike Brown was shot a year earlier. Protests, rightly so, continue because conditions are only slightly better, rather than significantly better.   And criminals use the protests as an opportunity to cause chaos.

Aside from the political & institutional, the physical isn’t much better. Most buildings burned are now just vacant sites. Only one was rebuilt.

The results:

Q: It’s been a year since Mike Brown was shot in Ferguson. How would you rate conditions today compared to just prior to his death?

1. Slightly better 16 [44.44%]
2. Unchanged 7 [19.44%]
3. Significantly worse 4 [11.11%]
4. Slightly worse 3 [8.33%]
5. TIE 3 [8.33%]
   1. Worse
   2. Other:
      1. better in what way?
      2. Tougher for the lawmakers; open season for the law breakers.
      3. Same, but with more awareness of how bad conditions are
6. TIE 0 [0%]
   1. Better
   2. Significantly better
   3. Unsure/No Answer

The current conditions are institutionalized and will take decades to change.

— Steve Patterson

1701 Locust Street To Become Apartments

In April I posted a list of buildings I’d like to see rehabbed. Then in July Ald Hubbard introduced a Redevelopment plan for 1701 Locust, one of the buildings on my list.

The building, in the block West of my loft, will be divided into apartments. Looking forward to seeing this long-vacant building come back to life!

— Steve Patterson

Readers: Let Small Bar Exemptions From Smoking Ban Law Expire In January 2016

Nearly three-quarters of readers think the 5-year exemptions from St. Louis’ smoking ban should expire, as scheduled, after January 1, 2016. Nobody selected the option to repeal the ban altogether.

Here are the results from the Sunday Poll:

Q: Small bars were exempted from St Louis’ smoking ban for 5 years, it expires in January. What should happen:

1. Let the exemptions expire as scheduled 37 [74%]
2. Extend the exemptions permanently 10 [20%]
3. Other: 2 [4%]
   1. Extend the extension for smoke shops only
   2. ban smoking in casinos
4. Extend the exemptions for 1-5 years 1 [2%]
5. TIE  0 [0%]
   1. Repeal the smoking ban
   2. Unsure/no answer

I agreed with the one “other” answer that casinos should also be smoke-free.  I’m going to email this to all the aldermen, but I ask you to contact your alderman as well.  Please contact them to let them know the exemptions shouldn’t be extended.

Click here to find your alderman.

— Steve Patterson

Proposition 1 Only Item on Tuesday’s Ballot

If you’re like me you’ve received several glossy mailers supporting Proposition 1  — the only item on Tuesday’s ballot.  Here’s the official ballot language:

Shall the following be adopted: Proposition to issue bonds of the City of St. Louis, Missouri in an amount not to exceed One Hundred Eighty Million Dollars ($180,000,000) for the purpose of funding a portion of the cost of acquiring certain real property for, and purchasing, replacing, improving, and maintaining the buildings, vehicles, and equipment of, the City, the St. Louis Police Department, Fire Department, and Emergency Medical Services, and other City departments and for maintaining the safety and security of the jails and improving public safety; for funding a portion of the costs of reconstructing, repairing and improving streets, bridges, and sidewalks; for funding a portion of the costs of infrastructure development and of demolition and abatement of various abandoned or condemned buildings owned by or under the control of the City of St. Louis or its related agencies; for funding a portion of the cost of city owned building stabilization and preservation; for funding a portion of the costs of home repair programs; for funding ward capital improvements; for funding a portion of the cost of paying for economic development and site development infrastructure, and for paying incidental costs of such work and of issuing the Bonds.

Here’s what it means, via the League of Women Voters:

The City wants to borrow $180 million to make significant repairs, improvements, and reconstruction, equipment upgrades in addition to upgrades of public safety equipment, vehicles, condemned and abandoned property demolition and abatement, and numerous other projects. Specific projects include municipal court improvements, replacement of fire trucks, a secure and centralized 911 center, corrections department updates, city building improvements, and home repair programs. In addition the city’s wards would get $10 million for aldermen to share and spread throughout the city’s neighborhoods.

The $180 million bond would be funded through a property tax increase. For example, a homeowner with a property tax bill based on $80,000 (home and vehicle) will pay approximately $28 more in annual property tax. Someone with a current property tax bill based on $140,000 would pay an additional $50 each year. A property tax bill based on $275,000 would have a $97 annual increase. The City last passed a general obligation bond in 1999.

Proponents say that it is time to reinvest in St. Louis. These improvements are long overdue and much needed to continue delivery of critical services, maintain the City’s financial health, and save millions of dollars in annual maintenance. They also say that repairs are particularly needed around the old Pruitt-Igo housing complex in north St. Louis since the City wants to have that site approved by the federal government for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s Western headquarters.

Opponents say added ward money, home repairs and demolition programs, work against the central purpose of the bond issue, which is to repair the city’s roads, streets and bridges and to upgrade equipment for police and firefighter equipment.

I voted absentee in favor — I think the positives outweigh the negatives.

— Steve Patterson

Becoming An Independent Uber Driver

I have no doubt that Uber will soon be operating in St. Louis, as the Post-Dispatch explains, they’ve never lost against local regulations designed to protect the established taxi industry. But, we must consider the ramifications:

Uber operates mainly in big cities like San Francisco and New York, chock full of liberals. Liberals have been caught up in the cult-like enthusiasm for Uber, demanding it in communities where it wasn’t offered and viewing its absence as evidence that their cities didn’t measure up on the tech-savvy cool-meter.

Getting Uber may offer immediate gratification. But communities must understand what it portends, which is more trouble for the middle class. An Uber driver may average about $16 an hour in pay, after deducting the cost of insurance and gas and mileage on their cars. But he probably doesn’t work full time for Uber nor receive benefits. He’s probably going to need another job or two to make ends meet. This doesn’t sound much like progress.

There’s another word that is sometimes used to describe the new, Uberized labor market — the serf economy. (Editorial: Uber is changing more than just transportation)

Manu of you may be ready to sign up as Uber drivers. Just like taxicab drivers, Uber considers its drivers to be “independent contractors”, not employees. What does this mean to you?

People such as doctors, dentists, veterinarians, lawyers, accountants, contractors, subcontractors, public stenographers, or auctioneers who are in an independent trade, business, or profession in which they offer their services to the general public are generally independent contractors. However, whether these people are independent contractors or employees depends on the facts in each case. The general rule is that an individual is an independent contractor if the payer has the right to control or direct only the result of the work and not what will be done and how it will be done. The earnings of a person who is working as an independent contractor are subject to Self-Employment Tax.

If you are an independent contractor, you are self-employed. To find out what your tax obligations are, visit the Self-Employed Tax Center. (IRS: Independent Contractor Defined)

The first thing you should wonder about is the “self-employement tax” mentioned above:

Self-employment tax is a tax consisting of Social Security and Medicare taxes primarily for individuals who work for themselves. It is similar to the Social Security and Medicare taxes withheld from the pay of most wage earners.

You figure self-employment tax (SE tax) yourself using Schedule SE (Form 1040). Social Security and Medicare taxes of most wage earners are figured by their employers. Also you can deduct the employer-equivalent portion of your SE tax in figuring your adjusted gross income. Wage earners cannot deduct Social Security and Medicare taxes. (IRS: Self-Employment Tax (Social Security and Medicare Taxes))

Depending upon your situation, this many not be applicable to you. I’m not an accountant, but I’ve been an employee, an employee & independent contractor concurrently, and just an independent contractor. From my own personal experience I can tell you it’s important to know the differences.

Why you ask? If you get paid say $1,000 from Uber, some of that money may need to be set aside to cover taxes you’ll owe on the income. This tax money might even need to be paid monthly or quarterly. Don’t forget about state and local taxes too.

Additional considerations:

• You’ll also need a system for keeping track of vehicle expenses (fuel, miles driven, maintenance).
• You may need different auto insurance.
• If your car is financed, would driving for Uber violate any terms of the finance agreement? Uber’s financing is described as a “risky-bet.”

When you get a job your employer takes care of much of the above concerns. If you decide to drive for Uber, or similar, then you’re starting a new business. Accept that — or do like others have and sue:

As you may have heard, the on-demand car-service juggernaut lost a case early this month before the California Labor Commissioner on whether a driver was an independent contractor or an employee, and thus eligible for expense reimbursement. Uber is appealing that ruling in court, but it already faces a class-action lawsuit over the same issue in federal court in California and similar fights in Floridaand Massachusetts.

These legal battles have actually become pretty common lately for car services and taxi companies, not just Uber. Sometimes the issue is that drivers who clearly are employees (they don’t own the cars, they only drive for one service) are treated as independent contractors by skinflint car-service owners. More often than not, though, it is cases like Uber’s, where drivers own their cars, can drive for other services and can set their own timetables — all attributes of an independent contractor — but are dependent on the service in ways that make them seem not quite independent. (Bloomberg View: Uber and the Not-Quite-Independent Contractor)

The taxicab companies, for their part, are looking like dinosaurs. Our taxicab experiences in Chicago have been much more positive than here.

Time marches on, this industry will look totally different in 5 years time.

— Steve Patterson