Batavia considers extending tax collected for MainStreet organization
A special tax collected to help support the Batavia MainStreet organization may be extended and even increased.
Aldermen on Tuesday agreed to start establishing a new special service area for much of the downtown to replace one that expires in November. And they agreed to include the ability to levy as much as $100,000 a year in the new ordinance.
The city currently is limited to levying a maximum of $40,000, collected from those properties in the SSA.
Officials from Batavia MainStreet suggested the $100,000 limit, but said Tuesday they are not asking to receive that much. The council would choose the amount each year.
"I want to make it clear we are not asking for $100,000," said Rob Hollis, a volunteer with the organization who previously was its vice president.
But the organization anticipates needing to do more work supporting downtown businesses, especially if the One North Washington development is approved. That construction is expected to be a major disruption, and Batavia MainStreet would work on ways to help affected businesses.
It did such work when the Wilson Street bridge was being rebuilt or when the North River Street streetscape was put in. Hollis said that could mean adding another paid worker, and the organization believes it would be difficult to get more money through fundraising.
MainStreet officials said when the SSA started in 2008, the organization had an annual budget of $120,000. The city contributed a third, the SSA a third, and fundraising the rest.
Its 2018 budget is $305,000, of which $225,000 comes from fundraising. The nonprofit group added a second full-time employee, who concentrates on raising money. Many of its major sponsors come from businesses outside the downtown, and even out of town. It received an $8,000 sponsorship from the Samuel Adams beer company, for example, for its Oktoberfest event.
The current SSA was renewed in 2013. The new SSA would be indefinite, but the council could end it at any time.
If the council actually approves the new SSA, it could be overturned if at least 51 percent of the electors who live in the SSA or 51 percent of the owners of properties in the SSA file an objection.
There are 232 parcels in the current SSA, with roughly 121 owners. It includes land owned by the city, the Batavia Park District, the Batavia school district and four churches, all of which are exempt from paying property taxes. Some of the city parcels are where the One North Washington development is proposed.
Batavia MainStreet was founded in 1998. It promotes use of the downtown, through marketing, advertising, being a liaison between the city and business owners, and creating and running more than a dozen events. One of its most popular events is the weekly farmers market on North River Street.