Proposed Special Improvement District

2010-03-16T12:53:00.000-07:00

Center City Association's proposed Special Improvement District project made the local news. If you have comments or questions please call our office at 937-327-7312 or e-mail to liveworkplay@center-city.org and let us know what you're thinking.

Downtown effort proposed to improve safety, cleanliness
By Samantha Sommer, Staff Writer Springfield News-Sun March 14, 2010

SPRINGFIELD — Some of the recurring concerns the Center City Association has heard about downtown focus on its perceived safety and cleanliness.
The association’s members believe they may have a solution to those and other issues facing the community as it seeks to revitalize downtown. The solution: a special improvement district.
A SID is formed by a group of property owners getting together and agreeing to tax themselves in order to generate money for extra services, such as private security and cleaning crews.
In addition to improving the look and feel of the city core, it could give property owners a communal voice in downtown’s future, said Maureen Fagans, Center City Association executive director.
Fagans will discuss the proposed special improvement district at the city commission meeting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 16, in the City Hall Forum, 76 E. High St.
“We looked at all the kinds of things that business owners or property owners in our downtown have told us are issues for them ... A special improvement district can very much help us create the right product,” she said.
Public good
A special improvement district is a an area of contiguous properties whose owners agree to assess themselves to receive enhanced services.
Those could include facade improvements, streetscape upgrades, landscaping, graffiti and trash removal, marketing and security.
“It has to be services that are for the public good,” Fagans said.
To set up a district, at least 60 percent of the front-footage or 75 percent of all property owners must sign petitions and then city commissioners must approve it. More than 80 property owners are in the area under consideration, but the boundaries are not set yet.
Government buildings and churches are exempt. Federally owned properties cannot participate, but city and county governments and churches could chose to pay.
The district would be a nonprofit corporation with a board selected by the city and property owners, which would then oversee it and select the services to be offered.
A district must be renewed after a set period of time, using the same petition process. It could be dissolved before then, also through a petition process.
The assessment is similar to how malls charge fees to tenants for maintenance and other services, Fagans said.
“This functions the same way,” she said.
Several cities have created special improvement districts, including Toledo, Dayton, Akron, Cleveland, Hamilton, Bowling Green and Canton.
“They are all over,” Fagans said.
Downtown Springfield
The boundaries of a district for downtown Springfield haven’t been determined, but could extend from Buck Creek on the north to either the railroad tracks or Mulberry Street on the south. The eastern edge could be Spring Street and the western end either Wittenberg Avenue or Center Street.
“Everything is still fluctuating,” she said.
Finding the right size is important, Fagans said, to avoid diluting the impact and to anchor development around the Fountain Avenue spine.
“You don’t want an area so large that you can’t be effective,” she said.
Center City is proposing assessments start January, 2011, with a four-year term.
How properties would be assessed also isn’t finalized. It could be based on a mix of property values and front footage.
“We’ve been trying to come up with the most equitable formula for all property owners,” she said.
How much it could cost an owner varies for each building.
A small property with little frontage might pay about $150 to $250 annually.
A high-rise building without a lot of front footage might pay $2,500 to $6,000 annually.
A building with a lot of footage, including a large parking lot, and a high value could pay $7,500 to $11,000.
The initial proposed annual budget is $430,000, which could end up higher or lower depending on the size of the district. Of that, it’s suggested $200,000 go to clean and safe services, $110,000 to economic development, $50,000 to public amenities and $70,000 to promotions and marketing.
The cleanliness services could include picking up trash, litter and cigarette butts, as well as power-washing sidewalks and removing graffiti.
The safety services could aid police, and reduce panhandling and other intimidating behavior. They also could serve as “ambassadors,” such as escorting people to cars, and providing directions or information about local events or businesses.
The amenities could include expanding the core block streetscape, such as the hanging flower baskets and banners.
“None of this is reinventing the wheel,” she said. “This is what other communities are doing, this is what we are finding out has been effective and appreciated by downtown property owners.”
Value
Center City is still in the initial phases of exploring a special improvement district and talking to property owners about it. It will likely start passing petitions in April.
So far the feedback from property owners has been positive, Fagans said, including from those hurting in the economic downturn.
“They recognize the value of having something like this, the empowerment of it,” she said.

Special improvement district proposed for downtown
By Samantha Sommer, Staff Writer Springfield News-Sun March 14, 2010

SPRINGFIELD — Tom Franzen understands that the current economy is a concern for property owners.
So it might not seem like the best time to ask downtown property owners to create a new support group and tax themselves to fund it.
Franzen, the city’s economic development administrator and a Center City Association board member, also sees that it could be a missed opportunity if a special improvement district isn’t pursued for downtown.
“Now is the time to try to get these things in place because now is the time that people are becoming interested in investing in downtown,” he said.
The Center City Association, a group committed to downtown revitalization, is proposing a special improvement district to bring together property owners in a designated area who agree to tax themselves. The money would go to projects and services that are above and beyond what the city provides.
Some extra services being eyed include additional cleaning, security, marketing and streetscapes.
Those services make people feel more comfortable downtown, and in turn, they would come there more often and stay longer, said Maureen Fagans, Center City’s executive director.
The association will talk about its proposal at the city commission meeting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 16, and again at its annual meeting on March 24.
“This could really be the right answer for downtown,” Fagans said. “It’s so critically important that we have these kinds of things in place. It’s a piece of the puzzle.”
Several cities — including Dayton, Columbus and Toledo — have the special improvement districts.
Toledo formed its 38-block district about four years ago, generating more than $500,000 a year. Sixty to 70 percent of that goes to a clean-and-safe program, which has staff pick up trash, keep an eye out and distribute information about restaurants and hotels, said Bill Thomas, executive director of the Downtown Toledo Improvement District.
“That really polishes the apple downtown,” he said.

2010-03-11T12:58:00.000-08:00

The Center City Association was provided the following information by the Clark County Public Library. The library is a tremendous asset to downtown Springfield. Please consider doing your part to help the library continue the great work that they do.

CLARK COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY OPERATING LEVY:

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Clark County Public Library Levy Committee
Gary Linn, Treasurer
828 Tanglewood Drive

Springfield, Ohio

LEVY FACT SHEET

Ninety percent of our funding comes from this state income tax distribution in the form of the Public Library Fund (PLF). From 2000 to the present revenue has dropped $2,000,000 – a 38% reduction. Inflation has increased expenses nearly $1,000,000 over the same period. The library averages $136,000 from fines and gifts.

The following cuts have already been made:
- Closing all branches every Friday
- Shortening daily hours of operation
- Drastically cutting the book budget
- Eliminating the purchase of audio-visual materials
- Dropping programming, including story times
- Reducing hours for all staff
- Implementing mandatory unpaid furloughs for all staff
- Not filling 20 positions (open through attrition) including
children’s coordinator, children’s librarian, bookmobile
drivers, library assistants, account clerk, and pages.

The library has experienced unprecedented growth in circulation and usage during this same ten-year period.

1,566,676 = the number of items checked out in 2009.
87,888 = the number of Clark County Public Library cardholders.
86,098 = the number of reference questions answered in 2009.
116,975 = the number of Internet sessions by patrons in 2009.

Center City Association Clark County HS Choir Invitational

2010-03-04T09:49:00.000-08:00

Sunday, March 7, 2010
1:00pm
Wittenberg University HPER Center

Please join us for a family friendly afternoon of musical entertainment!
Food and drinks are available.
Tickets are $10 floor seating, $5 for adult and $3 for students.

Help us thank our sponsors by supporting them throughout the year.

Sponsors: Wittenberg University, Clark State Community College, Jeff Wyler Automall, Security National Bank, The Bushnell Building, the Arcue Building, Keelsra Business Services, First Diversity Staffing, State Representative Ross McGregor, Avetec, Lees Famous Recipe, The Courtyard by Marriott, Express Employment Professionals, Larry Hines at State Farm Insurance, Home Federal Savings Bank, Suzie Blair at Roediger Realty, Ohio Real Estate Title, TAC Enterprises, Advanced Mechanical Services, Inc and Maria Goeser at ODOD.