City of Brentwood buys (acquires) house for $0: county records

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The city of Brentwood has purchased the house next to the firehouse (8746 Eulalie Avenue) on June 11 for $0, according to St. Louis County real estate information.

The ‘Sale Validty Code-Name’ is listed as CERTIFICATE OF VALUE (UNVERIFED).

Brentwood aldermen OK’d the purchase in May, then, for a cost of $200,000.

The city bought the property to build an elevator on the outside of the firehouse so the building can comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

See also: Attorney says Brentwood’s firehouse isn’t ADA compliant; fixing it promises to be expensive

The property will also provide room for a parking lot for firefighters, which is needed. The firehouse opened in 2011.

The city has been contacted for comment.

4 COMMENTS

  1. Well that was pretty dumb. You can’t buy something for zero, that makes it a gift. I don’t know how it works for governments, but a private citizen would have to pay taxes on its fair market value for a gift. Now if you purchase it for $1.00, you only have to pay taxes on that $1.00. That’s why you never gift a relative or friend with a car or house. You sell it to them for $1.00.

    • Don – Leave tax information to professionals please. You do not pay taxes on a gift. If your gift exceeds the annual limit, then you file a Gift Tax Return that lowers your non taxable estate upon death. But you never pay taxes at the time of a gift. Also you are allowed to make deductible charitable contributions to governments, if the contribution is to be used for the public. This is just click bait reporting.

      • Go to the DMV and tell them you were gifted a car, see what they say. I’ll tell you what it is “You have to pay taxes on the fair market value”. As I stated in my original comment, I don’t know if it’s different for government agencies. It probably is. Tell the county you were gifted a house, guess what you’ll be paying. Taxes on the fair market value.

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