A plan is in place to renew and expand the Downtown Springfield Community Improvement District, a move that would allow business owners who feel they are part of the downtown scene – but not located in the district – to receive the CID’s services.
But they’ll have to pay to play.
With the enhanced sales tax district scheduled to expire next year, CID board members in recent months have talked to business owners about renewing the district with a footprint about a fourth larger than the current size and an increased sales tax rate.
Responding to demand stakeholders identified for offering CID benefits to more people in the downtown area, the 15-member board is targeting the district’s periphery.
Expanding the footprint would increase district revenue from a budgeted $352,000 in fiscal 2016, which begins July 1, to $560,000, said Rusty Worley, who manages the downtown district for the CID board. Since the downtown CID was formed in 2000, Urban Districts Alliance Inc. has managed the district, but a
quiet change in January converted Worley and the UDA team to Downtown Springfield Association staff members.
District property owners also will be asked to increase the quarter-cent sales tax to a half-cent per dollar. If approved, CID sales tax proceeds would double to $290,000 in fiscal 2016, according to projections. The revenue funds maintenance and parking services, image enhancement, and safety and security.
“The CID has been a major foundational piece to downtown’s revitalization over the past 15 years,” Worley said of the taxing district that twice has been approved.
During early discussions – seven public meetings so far – the few individuals with questions or concerns include representatives of News-Leader Media Group. The newspaper’s property at 651 Boonville currently is not within the CID.
Under the proposal, boundaries would be expanded to the north along Boonville to include the News-Leader and IDEA Commons, to the west to include Mother’s Brewing Co. and on the southeast side of the current boundary to include Kum & Go at Kimbrough Avenue and Elm Street.
Expanding the downtown CID by 25 percent and increasing the sales taxes collected within the district is expected to take annual revenue to $560,000 from $352,000 budgeted in fiscal 2016.
“Those are some significant growth areas over the last decade, and this is a chance to include them in the services of the CID,” Worley said, noting at least 51 percent of the property owners would need to approve the plans, as would owners representing 51 percent of the assessed value within the district.
Dan Norselli, president and publisher of the News-Leader Media Group, said he supports the initiative to renew and expand the downtown CID, but he doesn’t want the publication’s sales taxes to increase.
Given its subscription model, Norselli said it’s not in the Gannett-owned company’s best interest to participate in the CID.
“That creates significant challenges for us because of some internal constraints in the way we bill,” Norselli said of a proposed tax increase. “I’m in favor of what it’s doing downtown. However, I can’t participate locally in the sense of raising our taxes.
“Because our corporate headquarters are in McLean, Va., there are a lot of funky things that go on internally in the way things get billed.”
Worley and CID board Chairman Chris Ball had a private meeting with Norselli, and they plan to talk more to better understand his sales tax concerns.
Worley said if subscription bills were generated outside of the district, then a CID sales tax would not apply.
“They can’t choose to opt out, but we will continue to work with them to get more information on the logistics to do their billing,” Worley said.
The physical expansion and the sales tax increase would be handled in two votes, the latter of which Worley said is expected this fall via mail-in ballots.
Brentwood Management Inc. owner and CID board member Craig Wagoner said he supports renewal and expansion, given the district’s track record in economic development.
“Remember what it was like 20 years ago with trash removal, parking, graffiti removal? Some of that stuff gets taken for granted,” said Wagoner, who has invested roughly $15 million downtown since the CID was established 15 years ago.
Among his assets in the district, Wagoner owns the Seville Lofts and Gailey’s Breakfast Cafe property at 212 E. Walnut St., and Brentwood Management developed the $3 million College Station Lofts, which opened in 2013 at 313 S. Campbell Ave.
He said an upside for developers is the help CID administrators provide in navigating financing or permitting through the city.
“There are a lot of things we do that people don’t think about,” Wagoner said.
“We have our banner program; we have our website; we help promote events downtown.”
Ball, who owns Jack Ball Architects PC, 444 S. Campbell Ave., said a 15-year renewal period is being proposed based on conversations with downtown business owners. The district was renewed for a 10-year period in 2006, when CID members also voted to increase property taxes.
“We’ve been trying to be more inclusive with our boundaries to really bring in what the general public considers to be downtown. We’re not allowed to market businesses outside of our boundaries because we’re like a political subdivision,” he said.
“For example, most people consider Mother’s Brewing to be a part of downtown, but it’s not apart of the downtown CID.”
Mother’s Brewing Co. owner Jeff Schrag said via email he supported renewing and expanding the district.
Beyond common services such as sidewalk cleaning, marketing and trash removal, Ball said increased police presence within the CID would be a new priority.
“With the renewal of this plan, we’re looking to do a model more similar to what Drury or Missouri State has where we would cooperatively employ some officers from the Springfield Police Department,” Ball said.
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