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Downtown BID district floated

JANESVILLE — Janesville downtown property owners are making a second attempt to form a business improvement district to raise $127,500, but resistance remains.

A BID proposal failed in 2003 when enough property owners signed a protest petition.

This effort is more organized and less rushed, said Chad Karl, chairman of the Downtown Development Alliance.

The alliance has been working on the proposal for two years and has a detailed strategy and budget, he said. And the city has offered to kick in $81,500 for a total budget of $209,000.

Organizers have scheduled an information meeting for Tuesday, June 24, and hope to have the BID before the council Sept. 22.

Jackie Wood, who co-owns the Olde Towne Mall with Jim Grafft, is enthusiastic about a BID.

Volunteers alone cannot take the downtown to its next level, Wood said. They can water flowers and hold clean-up days, but they can’t plan regular activities to bring people downtown, she said.

The downtown today is vital and has come a long way from dirty streets and empty storefronts, she said.

“We’ve reached the tipping point where we need another process that will take this going forward,” she said.

“Not everyone is going to be able to volunteer their time, but if everyone is assessed, then everyone is paying something toward it.”

The money would pay for:

-- Hiring a person and paying rent, $80,000.

-- Improving aesthetics, $50,000.

-- Holding events and celebrations, $20,000.

-- Marketing and recruiting for tenants, $31,500.

-- Beautification and maintenance, $27,500.

Wood, for instance, is hoping the money will pay for Christmas decorations.

Karl suggested using the money for annual special events, such as Beloit Riverfest.

“We’re looking into marketing and promoting the downtown,” Karl said.

“People could literally drive down Racine Street and not know the downtown is three blocks north.”

A BID is similar to what the Janesville Mall charges its tenants to keep up the common areas and pay for such expenses as security and marketing, Karl said.

“Either you’re growing, or you’re going backwards,” Karl said.

“There is no in-between.”

Said Wood: “We just need this. We need to keep the volunteers involved, we need to get more people involved. The BID … gets everyone into the game.

“I don’t know who wouldn’t want amenities to keep the downtown vital and energetic and better looking,” Wood said.

Her business partner, Jim Grafft, opposes a BID.

“I’m perfectly capable of spending my own money without going to the city coffers,” Grafft said.

The money he is assessed would be used to hire somebody whom he fears would just interfere with what he is doing, he said. Grafft owns multiple properties downtown, and he expects to be assessed for each one.

Regular events don’t add to a downtown, he believes. Instead, owners can use programs already in place to improve the housing stock, for instance.

Terry Donaldson, part owner of One Parker Place, signed the petition in 2003 that killed that BID attempt. His feelings haven’t changed.

“We really don’t know how the BID is being structured, yet, as far as what it would cost,” he said.

“But the consensus of the meeting was, we’d just as soon be left out of the BID district,” Donaldson said.

“We don’t know if that’s going to be an option. … They’re always trying to scoop us in.”

Wisconsin has 82 business improvement districts.

Janesville had a BID that was dissolved in 1995.

BID QUESTIONS

What is a business improvement district?

Property owners in a certain area agree to assess themselves to pay for improvements to the district.

What is Janesville’s proposed assessment?

The task force recommends an annual assessment of $2.80 per thousand dollars of assessed value. The maximum assessment is capped at $3,500 and the minimum is $350. A property valued at $150,000, for instance, would be assessed at $420.

The task force still is considering how to assess owners with multiple properties.

How much money would a BID raise?

Between $125,000 and $130,000. The city would kick in another $81,500 for a target budget of $209,000.

What would the money do?

It would pay for a coordinator. It would help maintain public spaces and support events to draw people downtown. Its operations would complement efforts spearheaded by the Downtown Renaissance Partnership, a team of community leaders from the city and Forward Janesville.

How is a BID approved, and what rights do property owners have?

After the information meeting Tuesday, June 24, the BID task force will file a petition with the city.

The following dates are tentative.

The item would be referred to the plan commission for a public hearing Aug. 18.

Then, a 30-day waiting period begins.

The BID can be rejected if a petition is signed by owners of properties representing 40 percent of the value of the property to be assessed.

If that doesn’t happen, the matter would be forwarded to the city council, most likely for another public hearing and vote Sept. 22.

If approved, the city manager would appoint at least five BID board members, with a majority being district property owners or tenants.

The group is hoping to have the BID functioning by Jan. 1.

TO LEARN MORE

The Downtown Development Alliance will hold an information meeting on a proposed business improvement district at 5:15 p.m. Tuesday, June 24, in The Armory, 10 S. High St., Janesville.