VALPARAISO | After three years of discussion, surveys and presentations, the city has started seeking signatures of downtown property owners interested in forming an economic improvement district.
"Reinvestment in the downtown is the highest priority for the city," Mayor Jon Costas said. "We've been working for three years to organize the EID, and we feel the district is the very foundation for the future success of the downtown. It will allow the merchants and property owners to speak with a common voice."
An EID is a special financing mechanism for providing services not already offered by the city and was one of the recommendations of the 2002 HyettPalma study for strengthening the downtown. The district would include the historic downtown area as well as the gateways leading into the downtown for a total of 227 parcels.
Before the petition can be considered by the council, it must have signatures of a majority of the property owners who also represent two-thirds of the combined assessed value of the qualifying properties within the district. Single-family homes and nonprofit organizations are not included and are exempt from having to sign or pay the annual assessment.
EID Project Coordinator Carol Wilson said the total budget of the proposed EID would be $225,360, of which the city would contribute $50,000 and the rest would be paid by the eligible property owners. Wilson said 173 of the 227 parcels would qualify for the assessment.
Forty percent of the funds would be used for marketing, promotion and events, and 30 percent each ($67,608) would go toward retention and recruitment and for common area maintenance. The latter could include everything from beautification to cleaning the sidewalks of snow in the winter and trash and debris the rest of the year.
The EID will have a board of directors, the majority of whom are required to be property owners within the district, to oversee the budget. The day-to-day operations will be handled by an executive director. Although the district's creation as well as its budgets must be approved by the city council and the city is contributing $50,000 toward its operation, the EID is not a city administration driven entity, Wilson said.
"I do not represent the city," she said. "This is not political. I've worked hard to make sure it is not. ... You can't tag it onto the Costas administration because it covers five-plus years (since the HyettPalma study), and to make it political is totally missing the point."
Costas said, "The EID has been a part of our strategic plan from day one, and HyettPalma consistently said, while the others things we are doing downtown are good, creating the EID is the single most important thing we can do and it can take us to a level we would never reach without it."
Wilson said petitions were given to all the property owners, including 44 mailed to out-of-town owners. Several have signed, and, although there is a deadline for signing, Wilson said, "We put a deadline on it knowing we might have to make a second and maybe a third shot at it before it would be declared dead. If it takes a little more time, we will do it."
