Downtown Merchants Debate Plan to Create Business Improvement District

By Tina Terry, tterry@wagt.com

Tools

Downtown Merchants Debate Plan to Create Business Improvement District

By Tina Terry

Stop in Downtown Augusta to window shop and some say you'll see too much graffiti and trash.

"Downtown is not as clean as it should be or as safe as it should be," said Loyd Sanford of the Downtown Development Authority.

That group and some business owners say the solution is a Business Improvement District. Under the plan, merchants would pay a fee each month for several years. The fee could be between $20 and $50 dollars for every $100,000 dollars the property is assessed.

A BID committee would then use the money for contracting services such as landscaping, graffiti removal, and foot patrols.

The plan drew heated debate from Downtown merchants Thursday night.

"I'm only hearing the good side of it," said property owner Joe Smith. "I wanna hear the bad side. You're talking about taxing my property for five years. That's a long time to tax my property to put something downtown."

Supporters of the plan say it's been successful in other cities. Many merchants say they want to hear from those who've seen the plan work and those who've seen it fail.

Members of the Downtown Development Authority will work to get the answers merchants want. They plan to have another public hearing in two to three months.

View comments

The following comments do not necessarily represent the views of WAGT. Users have agreed to these terms and in doing so accept full responsibility for their comments. Moderation is limited.

Add a comment

Name:

Comment: 500 Characters Left

WAGT and its affiliated companies are not responsible for the content of comments posted or for anything arising out of use of the above comments or other interaction among the users. Comments are posted on site immediately and without station moderation. If you feel a comment is inappropriate you may flag it for review. For guidelines on flagging comments see our Terms & Conditions. We reserve the right to screen, refuse to post, remove or edit user-generated content at any time and for any or no reason in our absolute and sole discretion without prior notice, although we have no duty to do so or to monitor any Public Forum.

I have read and agree to the terms

Hide comments

More Good Stuff

WAGT Weather

Click here for 7 Day Forecast
Icon
Current Temp 72.0 °F
Fair
More Weather

WAGT Weather

On Demand

This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled. Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.

Viewer Poll

Are you going out of town for the 4th of July?

  • Yes
  • No

What's On Tonight Full Schedule