Area 61 Gallery Director Keeli Crewe is shown in this 2016 staff file photo.I’m a business “tenant,” a non-property owner, within the proposed downtown Business Improvement District (BID). In response to the recent commentary by Steve Hunt, “Self-assessed fees would enhance safety, cleanliness of district” (page F1 of Sunday’s Times Free Press):
I agree the city budget is stretched, demands are growing and downtown should be the best it can be. Who wouldn’t be for enhanced safety, cleanliness and moving panhandlers along?
However, when property owners who are advocating for the BID refuse to call it what it is, a “self-imposed tax,” it makes me even more intrigued as to what is actually in their long-range plans.
A BID is not simply a neighborhood/homeowners association. All definitions of a BID call it a “sell-imposed tax,” not self-assessed “fees” or membership dues. It does not serve an identical purpose and function as a neighborhood/homeowners association. While neighborhood associations do work together to accomplish some of the same objectives of a BID, the proposed services of this BID include many more than the three that have been declared publicly (enhanced cleaning, safety and improved maintenance of infrastructure) and most of them have historically been provided by existing downtown development agencies.
A self-imposed “tax” is very different. Most of the property owners who are advocating the BID have substantial business or residential tenants. I’ve reviewed three tenant leases in the past year within this district. My attorney said that lease language stating the tenant shares in a portion of the property tax, insurance and operating expenses has become standard, and it is 100% to the benefit of landlords. He added there is room for some negotiation, or to cap your share. Bottom line, taxes can be passed down to the tenants in a number of ways. If this clause isn’t already in your lease, look for it when you renew.