On June 12, Asheville City Council will vote on creating a special tax area to fund the downtown Business Improvement District, a nonprofit entity with its own service and security functions. But the BID faces no shortage of criticism about its consequences and accountability.
As the city of Asheville begins deciding what it will and won’t spend money on in the coming year, staff has presented a menu of budget options, putting a price tag on everything from Sunday bus service ($190,000 a year) to a raise for city staff ($460,000).
Amid talk of higher taxes and better services, City Council may soon decide whether downtown Asheville gets a business improvement district. Many city residents first encountered the term in 2009, when Boston-based consultants Goody Clancy recommended the idea in their draft of what became Asheville’s Downtown Master Plan. Council adopted the plan later that year, […]
