City council, residents continue discussing potential Business Improvement District

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — During Tuesday night’s Asheville City Council meeting, many restaurant owners were worried about the potential impact of increased property taxes on their business.

City leaders are looking to vote on possibly moving forward with the Downtown Asheville Business Improvement District (BID).

The BID will be authorized by the city, but self-governed.

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Businesses within the district will have added services to enhance safety and cleanliness. This would include littering and weed removal and “Graffiti Abatement.”

They’ll also have added help with marketing, capital improvements and “hospitality services,” which Tuesday night’s presentation listed as including “business engagement” and “engagement with members of the unhoused population.”

In order to pay for these services, businesses within the BID boundary will need to pay an additional property tax.

The proposed annual assessment rate is 0.0919 per $100 of taxable value.

Hannah Gibson of Sow True seeds says that she is worried about potential impact this will have in the long run.

“We stand firmly against the Business improvement District,” she said. “We have concerns of the additional tax will make it more expensive for a small business to continue to grow and operate out of the city.”

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The BID proposed services and annual budget include:

• Safety and Hospitality Services: $700,000
• Enhanced Cleaning Services: $300,000
• Contingency: $100,000
• BID Management and Administration: $150,000
• Total BID Budget: $1,250,000

No vote took place Tuesday, but city leaders say they are expecting to take a vote within the next two meetings.

To read more, click here.

And to access the presentation, click here.