Asheville City Council will vote on whether or not to create a Business Improvement District, Municipal Service District, Asheville Downtown District, Community Improvement District, or whatever its name may become this Tuesday, June 12. The report advocating the program is replete with numbers, but I remain in the dark about their derivation. At the most fundamental level, raising taxes should increase revenues because those who can’t pay will split, making room for wealthier, more qualified tenants, provided they want to do business in Asheville.
The report tells downtown property owners they need only give up one truffle or one cup of designer coffee a day to pay the tax. My favorite part of the report is the four pages that state, “We’ll do this . . . “ followed by the page with the big red X. They capture my vision of the BID better than those water-color renderings of streets fit for ladies who can walk a French poodle and cappuccino at the same time. (Neither Mozilla nor Explorer downloaded content.) A pie chart shows 10% of funds will go toward administration; 13%, toward advocacy and coordination. The report also shows that the average North Carolina BID imposes a 15-cent tax. Buncombe County recently turned down a chance to contribute $200,000 toward the BID, so there’s a good chance the seven-cent tax increase will not suffice.
