Business Improvement District discussed

SEELEY LAKE – Workers in orange vests with the letters “BID” on them picking up litter in downtown Missoula prompted Missoula County Commissioner Josh Slotnick to learn a little about Business Improvement Districts (BID). It also led him to ask the question, could a BID be used to benefit Seeley Lake?

Slotnick reached out to Seeley Lake Community Council Chair Klaus von Sutterheim who invited him to present the idea at the Oct. 14 Council meeting.

While the idea came from a commissioner, forming a BID is entirely a decision of the local property owners within the BID boundaries. A board formed from those property owners would spend the money collected. Missoula County does have to be involved in the creation of the BID and is responsible for collecting the taxes created by the BID but is not involved in how the funds are spent.

The purpose of a BID is to create a more attractive business district and promote people coming and shopping there, thus increasing profits.

“This is not Missoula County telling anybody what they have to do. This is not a taxpayer deal,” said Slotnick. “This is 100 percent voluntary and it’s a tool you can use to make things happen in your business district that may not happen otherwise.”

Slotnick clarified that the formation of the BID is voluntary in that it can include or exclude properties when it’s created, however once formed, the funding is collected through property taxes and all properties in the boundary would be required to pay.

According to MCA 7-12-1111 on forming and expanding BIDs, the boundaries do not need to be contiguous but do need to include all the property “with the same identified purpose.” It may not include “areas that are zoned primarily as residential areas.”

Slotnick said there is currently only one BID in Missoula County and that is located in downtown Missoula, hence the orange BID vests on workers picking up trash.

The Missoula BID charges landowners a flat rate plus a set percent of the assessed tax value. When the Missoula BID was last renewed in 2010 the 404 landowners were projected to pay nearly $300,000 into the BID. Less than two percent of landowners protested the renewal.

One landowner in attendance at the Council meeting said there are already several non-profits doing similar work such as the Seeley Lake Community Foundation and the Seeley Lake Chamber of Commerce. On top of that there is considerable divisions in the community on several things currently in the works and a BID might be “the icing on the cake” for the town and not in a good way.

Another landowner said that people in Seeley don’t have a lot of money and pointed specifically to recent tax increases and increasing tax assessment values along with the sewer project as being part of the reason people are broke.

A resident suggested that businesses would have to charge more for their products or services in order to fund a BID. Therefore, it would have a negative impact on the community at large.

Von Sutterheim said the thought behind a BID is that it will fund itself.

While most in the crowd seemed to be opposed to the idea, some pointed out that the Missoula BID has been a success and it could be nice for Seeley to have the funding to put on and promote events.

Currently the Missoula BID pays for putting on festivals, promotion of the farmers’ market, extra law enforcement, putting up flowers and banners and pays to pick up litter and empty garbage cans among other things.

The Council didn’t discuss the idea any further and took no action on it.