From the Indianapolis Business Journal:
Mass Ave business owners are divided over a proposed tax to pay for improvements throughout the cultural district in downtown Indianapolis.
Opponents have accused the advocates of rigging the proposal to ensure its passage, and they’re urging property owners to vote no on a petition that has yet to circulate.
The Riley Area Development Corp. and Mass Ave Merchants Association spearheaded the effort to create an economic improvement district, or EID, in which commercial property owners would be assessed a fee to pay for common benefits, such as streetscape improvements, maintenance and marketing.
The proposed rate is 0.15 percent of assessed value on commercial properties and half that for buildings owned by not-for-profits, such as the Athenaeum and Old National Center.
Cassie Stockamp, executive director of the Athenaeum Foundation and a member of the economic improvement district leadership committee, said the avenue needs a steady stream of income to stay competitive with other cultural districts. “Fountain Square, Georgia Street—we have to pay attention. We have to differentiate ourselves,” she said.
The EID leadership committee estimates that the fees would raise just under $100,000 a year. That figure could rise substantially with redevelopment of the Indianapolis Fire Department headquarters and former Coca-Cola bottling plant near the district’s northeast end. But the current proposal also would dissolve the EID after 10 years, Stockamp said.
The EID discussion has created a sharp divide among local business and property owners. One of the Athenaeum’s own tenants, Rathskeller Biergarten owner Dan McMichael, is strongly opposed. The Athenaeum’s leases would prevent the fee from being passed on to its tenants, but McMichael said his other properties, the Mayleeno Apartments and a parking lot, would be affected.
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The EID must clear two hurdles before it can be presented to the Indianapolis City-County Council. A majority of affected property owners must sign a petition agreeing to create the district, and those property owners must represent a majority of assessed value.
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If the petition is successful, the City-County Council would be asked to create the EID, and the fees would be included in the 2014 property-tax billing cycle.
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See the full article here:
http://www.ibj.com/mass-ave-business-owners-split-over-proposed-district-tax/PARAMS/article/40955
