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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/06/2011 22 DYBID Renewal Options T"olos • • • • • O . MEMORANDUM • TO: Honorable Mayor Cawley and Members of the City Council . FROM: Jeff Cutter, City Attorney • DATE: August 12, 2011 . • • SUBJ: DYBID Renewal Options • During the Economic Development Committee meeting held on Wednesday, August 10, I was asked to provide a summary of the options available to the City Council to consider as an alternative to the renewal of the DYBID assessment collection that would otherwise continue if the present efforts to initiate a new DYBID are successful. I have reviewed the statutes controlling the initiation procedures for Parking and Business Improvement Districts, RCW 35.87A, and can offer the following alternatives in the event the present petition efforts do not support the formation of a new DYBID. • Essentially, the Council would have two options to permit CDY to continue to provide the services they are presently providing in the downtown area, in part made possible by the DYBID assessments they have received to date. The first option, available if the expiring DYBID is not re- initiated by way of the present petition effort, the City Council • could consider approving an appropriation of funds to replace the funds CDY has previously received from the assessments. It is my understanding that the assessments • received by CDY under the present but expiring assessment process have been approximately $236,000 annually. Therefore, presumably, the City Council may choose to appropriate funds in a similar amount to allow the continued operation of CDY at the service level presently being experienced. This is a rough estimate that would obviously have to be fully analyzed by the City and CDY; and is offered here only to describe the alternative available to the Council. • The second alternative Council could consider is provided by the Parking and Business • Improvement Area statue. The statute provides that in addition to the petition method of initiating a PBIA/DYBID, which is the method that the City has relied on in all past PBIA formations that I have identified, there is also a provision authorizing the Council to initiate a PBIA/DYBID through a resolution process. RCW 35.87A.030 and .040 state: For the purpose of establishing a parking and business improvement area, an initiation petition • may be presented to the legislative authority having jurisdiction of the area in sed p which the propo e� .. : y�,e...m: ' Y ,�..-.... . ... l . , tide v w .c. i t i , r s• { • g,_ _ p 9'� - is to be located or��,thg legisative >,�authocty•,nay�� parking business improvement area is • teait on;iiiit efeia; . a kin ';and . 4ihes_s`im roVerTi area • Tfte legislatiVCa-uthority, after ;resoluti receiving of >irife a n valid initiation petition or aft'e`r'pas`sage' of an inifiation resolytion'; : sli'all`a dopta onstion establish =an areaTfie ,•resolutionsfiall' "state..the time;and, place{; of= apear to2bemeld 6y the;'Ie islative author to'consider!establi h `s ment= of . 4110 area anWall restate all", the? informati'on;contained,tiin,;th'e initiation petition or initiat_i64,e'Solutlon • regarding boundaries, projects and uses, and estimated rates of assessment. FOR COUNCIL INFO ONLY • C CCC ES DATE i i �� • Therefore, the City Council is authorized to bring the initiation of a PBIA g forward • through a resolution, which would express the intent to establish a defined area, the uses that the assessments would be applied toward, the assessment rate(s) that would be applied, and generally the same details as are included in the present petition effort. This resolution would be followed by another resolution of Council that would include all of the same information as stated in the first resolution, as well as setting the date for a..,. public hearing for the consideration of the PBIA. At the public hearing, if the City Council receives protests from business operators and owners comprising a majority ( >50 %) of the proposed total assessments assessed in the PBIA area, the process to establish the PBIAJDYBID will terminate (RCW 35.87A.060). If, after the hearing, the Council decides to establish the proposed assessment area, then the Council shall adopt an ordinance to,that effect (RCW 35.87A.100). These are the two basic options the City Council could consider to address the loss of the assessments from the expiring DYBID in the event the petition process is unsuccessful. Certainly the level of continued service funded by the assessments, the size of a future PBIA / DYBID area, the level of assessment charged in a future area and other elements of this process are variable and could be altered, but the general options would be as provided herein. _ IP • • •