Special tax on downtown Batavia to pay for improvement efforts

Batavia MainStreet will get a guaranteed $40,000 a year from the city for the next five years from a special tax on downtown properties.

The city council established a special service area this week covering most of the downtown. Landowners in the area will pay up to 40 cents per $100 of equalized assessed valuation. The levy will be capped at $40,000.

MainStreet, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving downtown Batavia, is to use the money for "economic redevelopment" by providing guidance and education on marketing, financial structures and image improvement, and organizing commercial and community activities.

The amount is less than was originally proposed by the city last fall. Back then, city officials proposed collecting $75,000 for MainStreet and $66,000 for infrastructure work. Landowners protested the amounts were too much. They also didn't like the infrastructure idea, because there were no specific plans attached, and not every business would benefit equally from anticipated improvements.

The city intends to also contribute $40,000 a year from its regular coffers for MainStreet. This budget year, it sent $45,000 to the agency, and in previous years $30,000. MainStreet had also been given space in a city-owned building, for $1-a-year rent, but has to move, since the city is trying to sell the building.

MainStreet won two awards last week from the state: one, submitted on behalf of the city, for design for the Donovan Bridge rebuilding project, and recognition as a "Premier Program," one of seven in the state. It organizes the weekly farmers market in the summer, ran the "Bridging Batavia" promotional campaign to encourage people to patronize Batavia businesses throughout the bridge reconstruction in 2007 and 2008, and offers educational seminars to businesses. It also took over the monthly "First Friday" arts walk.

Earlier this summer, MainStreet estimated there were about two dozen empty spaces downtown, with about 55,000 square feet available for offices, shops, storage and industrial uses.