CID goes before City Council one more time

by Karen E. Culp

SBJ Staff

A public hearing and second reading on a proposed community improvement district for center city is scheduled for City Council's Sept. 7 meeting.

An earlier public hearing on the proposed district was held in June, but because of a legal concern about publication of the hearing, it was tabled. The delay pushed back the date at which collection of a special tax for the district can commence from Jan. 1, 2000 to Jan. 1, 2001, said Mary Lilly Smith, economic development director for the city of Springfield. Council approval was needed prior to August for the district to be eligible to tax itself beginning in 2000, she added.

The community improvement district would be a self-taxing district that would raise funds for improvements within the center city area it proposes to serve.

In order to get the measure before council for approval, volunteers who served on a CID steering committee had to gain approving signatures from a majority of property owners in the area, Smith said.

The downtown committee gained 109 signatures from center city property owners. There are a total of 203 property-owning groups in the proposed district, Smith said. The 109 signatures represent 54 percent of district property owners, well above the 50.1 percent of signatures the steering committee needed to gather, Smith said. Those signing petitions in favor of the district represented 69 percent of the district's total property value, Smith said.

The bill to be heard Sept. 7 is a public hearing and second reading bill, meaning council will vote on it.

The district will not be able to collect the additional property tax from its members until 2001, but it may be able to implement some of the planned improvements prior to then, said Allen Casey, who serves as chair of the steering committee.

"The district will operate on a July to June fiscal year, much like the city's, so we can begin our work in July of 2000. It will be up to the district's board to determine how we will finance the improvements until the tax collection begins," Casey said.

Improvements planned as a result of the CID include parking upgrades, clean-up of the area and safety and security measures. The district may also use its funds for marketing and promotion of the district.

If council votes to approve the formation of the district, the steering committee will then approach council again with a slate of candidates for a board of directors. Council will vote on whether to approve the board, Smith said.

Once the board is in place, it will work out the details of operating the district, such as whether it will hire staff, contract with Urban Districts Alliance for services, or collect as high a tax as is proposed.

The district's preliminary business plan calls for two zones to be formed within the district, each taxed at a different level, and each receiving different services. Zone 1 would be taxed at $7.38 per foot of lot frontage and $0.747 per $100 of assessed value. Zone 2 would have the same assessed value rate of taxation, but its tax per foot of lot frontage would be $1.05.

The board of directors will have the authority to impose a tax no higher than those set forth in the business plan, Casey said, but the board may choose a lower level of taxation.

If council does not approve the bill Sept. 7, it will be a long time before another attempt to form a CID is made, Casey said.

"Our volunteers have dedicated long hours to the signature-gathering and education process. It would be difficult to find people who would be willing to start that process all over again immediately," Casey said.