Wheaton downtown group will get public hearing on tax district
A Wheaton small-business owner told the city council Monday that she will leave town if the city council does not create a special tax district to replace one that expires in April. A new district, which would encompass much of the downtown, would provide most of the budget for the Downtown Wheaton Association. Without it, the organization’s officials have said the downtown group’s future would be in jeopardy.
Jill Card, who opened Jeans and a Cute Top Shop in spring 2009, said that would be bad for the city because of the organization’s marketing function, which brings in several downtown events each year.
“It’s the most powerful marketing tool the small business in Wheaton can have,” she said during Monday’s council meeting. “When I opened, we shopped communities, towns and neighborhoods. We talked to business owners. We went to city hall to do our research. We chose Wheaton because of all of the events in town, all of the energy.”
That energy seemed to spill into city hall Monday evening. While supporters told the council that losing the district — and as a result the downtown group — would harm downtown, detractors said they see no benefit from it and would prefer to save the additional tax they pay every year. The council agreed to hold a public hearing on Oct. 11, but just barely.
Councilwomen Jeanne Ives and Evelyn Pacino Sanguinetti and Councilman Phil Suess voted against holding the hearing, arguing that the Downtown Wheaton Association should be a privately funded group supported by those property owners downtown who think it is viable instead of taxpayer money.
Under the rules of the district that will expire in April, all property owners in the district pay an additional tax of 95 cents per $100 of equalized assessed value that goes toward the group’s annual budget. That number would be reduced to 45 cents per $100, according to a proposal by the group. However, in the proposal, officials have asked the city to divert money captured by a tax increment finance district to the group to make up for the shortfall.
Detractors have said that the additional tax impedes businesses from locating downtown while its supporters say the events held by the Downtown Wheaton Association draw pedestrian traffic downtown.
However, group officials had to answer for about $200,000 that sits in reserve right now, with Ives saying that money should be invested downtown before a new district is even considered. Downtown Wheaton President Keven Graham said Monday that the law requires that the organization return the money to the property owners if it’s not spent by April.
Glenn Kosirog, one of the most outspoken business owners against the new tax district, said this surplus and the fact that there remain several vacancies downtown are proof that the Downtown Wheaton Association is not working as efficiently as it should.
“If this is working, I’d hate to see you do anything that isn’t working,” he said. “We need to say, ‘No,’ to this. Let’s spend the $200,000 and then come back and see if we need the money.”