Council Orders More Outreach After Mixed Response to Downtown PBID Survey

City staff and consultant New City America presented preliminary outreach results on Feb. 10 for a proposed downtown property-based improvement district (PBID). The initial survey produced 25 responses from 159 parcels; responses were frequently “open to the idea” but many property owners said they wanted more information before committing to voting yes on assessments.

Consultant Marco Lemandri told the council the standard formation process requires a petition stage (50% of property owners by assessed dollar amount to reach a ballot) and then a weighted-return ballot; because the city is a large downtown property owner, city participation could materially help reach the petition threshold, though the city could choose to sign a petition and later refrain from voting in the balloting stage. Lemandri presented three illustrative budget options (A–C) showing different scales for placemaking, sidewalk cleaning and administration; he noted a reasonable PBID should generate enough revenue to make a visible impact rather than a token amount.

Downtown property owners and business representatives voiced concerns about low response rates, assessment cost impacts, and ensuring tenant/business voice in governance. One owner asked for a third collaborative option that would involve equal representation of property owners, business owners and the current BID. City staff recommended targeted in-person outreach (one-on-one meetings and small-group conversations) in February–March to collect more complete preferences, run concrete assessment scenarios for individual parcels, and return to council with results. The council voted to direct staff to proceed with that outreach and to present the range of options and their likely costs and benefits.

Staff emphasized timing constraints for assessor-roll processing and that a full formation timeline would be necessary if property owners decide to pursue a petition and ballot; even with a favorable petition, forming a PBID in time for the current tax-assessor cycle would be challenging but still possible with a compressed schedule.