Who will run the BID? City Council to hold public hearing Jan.14

The public will get an opportunity to learn about the entity that will run the city’s Downtown Business Improvement District (BID), which will focus on three key areas: safety and hospitality; enhanced cleaning; and special projects.

Asheville City Council will hold a public hearing at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 14, and consider a contract to launch the services in the BID, which received final Council approval in June.

The BID is a taxing overlay that adds a property tax increase in that area that will generate $1.25 million a year for additional services. The BID will add 9 cents per $100 of taxable property. For the owner of property assessed at $400,000, that’s about $360 more per year.

A nine-member committee consisting of city staff from the departments of public works, planning and urban design, city manager’s office, fire and community responders, police, homeless strategies, business inclusion, communications, sustainability and a member of the Downtown Commission reviewed two responses to the city’s request for proposals (RFP).

The city issued the RFP on Sept. 20 with a submission date of Nov. 13. After Tropical Storm Helene, Council extended the deadline a month and changed the contract length from one to three years.

The RFP evaluation committee scored the proposals on the service providers’ understanding of the scope of the work, their startup plan, experience managing similar community-focused programs and alignment with the city’s goals. The staff recommendation will be revealed at the Jan.14 meeting.

The two applicants include the Asheville Downtown Community Improvement District (ADCID), a partnership with the Asheville Downtown Association, the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce and Nexstreet. In its proposal, ADCID plans to fulfill the BID’s operational requirements by entering into a management agreement with the Asheville Downtown Association. The Downtown Association will hire a deputy director to oversee contracts with Nexstreet to implement cleaning operations and engage the Asheville Chamber of Commerce for financial services and board administration.

The other applicant, the Sally Blagg Family Foundation, has BID experience in Brooklyn, N.Y., Philadelphia and Salisbury, N.C. If selected, it would set up its office in the YMI Cultural Center.

The scope of work includes budgeting, reporting requirements and public accountability. The service provider also will be responsible for establishing a BID steering committee made up of individuals from downtown industries and stakeholders, to help address the three focus areas.

If the contract is approved by City Council, BID services will begin to roll out early this year and the service provider’s first progress report will be expected in the spring.