The Chattanooga City Council will consider an ordinance Tuesday that would permanently exempt two churches within the downtown business improvement district from fees that fund certain services in the zone.
Nonprofit organizations that own property in the district can seek reduction or waivers of the fee on a case-by-case basis each year.
Property owners pay an annual assessment of $0.09 per square feet plus $4.95 per linear foot of lot frontage, according to the Downtown Chattanooga Alliance website, and homeowners of a condo or townhome in the zone pay a flat fee of $150.
Stephen Brookes, executive director of the Downtown Chattanooga Alliance, told the Chattanooga Times Free Press in an interview that Second Presbyterian Church, 700 Pine St., and Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church, 305 W. 7th St., would no longer have to request a waiver for the annual fee levied on their houses of worship if council approves the change.
The district was established by city ordinance in 2019 to make the area cleaner and safer, and its first year of operation was 2020.
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So far, Brookes said, the churches have not had to pay a fee on their houses of worship in the two years since the district was formed, but the amendment would eliminate the need for them to submit an application seeking that waiver.
“In talking with City Council and working with City Council, it’s just amending that ordinance so we don’t have to go through this process that we (would) more than likely waive every single year,” he said.
Council members approved the ordinance on the first of two required votes this past week and will take the second vote Tuesday.
Most of the fees collected by the Downtown Chattanooga Alliance cover expenses like equipment and wages associated with the organization’s ambassador program, which has employees who clean up graffiti, pick up litter and perform general beautification activities in the district along with other services.
(READ MORE: Nonprofit groups persist in seeking downtown Chattanooga fee waivers)
The Rev. Cathy Meyer of Second Presbyterian Church said Tuesday that church dollars in particular are generally volunteered, and donors don’t provide that money to cover the cost of a fee. She’s grateful that the council is considering the change.
“It’s huge for us,” Meyer said by phone. “It will save us time and energy.”
The fee for Second Presbyterian Church’s house of worship would have been $4,200 per year, Meyer said. The church does pay a fee for its parking lot, which totals about $2,000 per year, and will continue doing so.
Meyer said everyone wants the downtown area to be beautiful and comfortable for visitors.
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“We don’t want to be seen as difficult or exceptions, but we do still maintain that being a church is a little bit different from being a for-profit kind of business,” she said.
The boundaries of the district are roughly the Tennessee River to the north, U.S. 27 to the west, 11th Street to the south and a combination of Georgia Avenue and Cherry Street to the east.
Brookes said the amendment resulted from conversations over the past several months between the Downtown Chattanooga Alliance and members of the council.
The City Council meets at 6 p.m. on Tuesday at its chambers at 1000 Lindsay St.
Contact David Floyd at dfloyd@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6249. Follow him on Twitter @flavid_doyd.