The city administrators are striving to create a business improvement district, or BID program. The defined area will include all the businesses and every property owner in that district.
Instead of having everyone included in the defined area having a vote, they will subdivide into smaller districts. Therefore, many residents in a subdistrict will be represented as one vote, greatly diminishing the individual value of their votes.
Considering the ease of computer-age tallying, every tax payer should have equal vote value. In essence, the core downtown area and business owners will benefit the most. Therefore, the tax rate for that area should be higher than that of the fringe areas.
It appears that the city realizes the need for more attention to the downtown area, but wants the property owners who are already overtaxed to pay for it.
— Ray Conway
Asheville
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