Efforts towards setting up a business improvement district in downtown North Battleford took another small step forward Monday.
The bylaw to set up the program was introduced at Monday's council meeting.
That bylaw is designed to establish the BID and its boundaries and set up a board of management. It also authorizes a levy be paid by property owners, based on assessment of all land and improvements used or intended to be used for business purposes in the district.
The bylaw received two readings, but third reading and final passage will be scheduled for the next council meeting as there are issues councillors would like to see addressed in the meantime.
A primary one is whether federal and provincial government-owned buildings could be asked to contribute to the levy to run the BID.
Right now there are several such buildings located in the downtown BID area, all of which would be exempt from contributing to the BID because they do not pay property taxes. Instead, those entities provide a separate grant in kind back to the City.
Councillor Ryan Bater expressed concerns about government buildings and Crown corporations being exempt from BID, and wanted to see some way for those to contribute.
"We all know that SGI, the liquor store and SaskTel are downtown and they're going to be benefiting from the activity of the BID," Bater told reporters.
"I think it would be advantageous for those entities to be able to contribute to that organization."
Also still an issue is the budget for the BID and the size of the levy.
Bater expressed concern about numbers floated at public meetings suggesting the levy could be high as 19 per cent on property taxes, which he noted would be higher than other municipalities.
That number is assuming a worst-case scenario where the City does not participate in the BID. Still, it had Bater concerned.
"It's a very sizable charge or increase on downtown businesses," said Bater, who said he would be looking for ways to pare down the budget and at "alternative ways to fund the BID beyond property tax."
Bater also continues to push the idea of bringing back parking meters downtown to finance the BID operations.
"I think if we get creative and look at some alternatives, I think we can get that property tax levy down to a workable number that will be acceptable to all businesses downtown no matter what their size," said Bater.
While the BID budget is a concern, the main discussion about funding and the size of the levy itself are to come later as part of the discussion of a separate bylaw that would set up the funding model for the organization.
That point was reiterated by Councillor Greg Lightfoot, who made clear the bylaw being considered Monday was about setting up the BID, not the funding model.
He acknowledged there was some tweaking that still needed to happen on the budget, but said over 90 per cent of the feedback he heard was positive. Lightfoot noted there was support for it outside the BID area as well.
Monday's council proceedings were well attended as several representatives of downtown businesses and organizations spoke out at a public hearing on the downtown BID prior to the start of the main council meeting.
Five of those presenters, including Derek Schmidt of the downtown BID committee and Chamber of Commerce president Sharon Mohagen, expressed support for the BID. One presenter voiced dissent, however, and expressed the view it gave the City too much power.
Schmidt noted that the previous Wednesday, a public information forum had been held at the North Battleford public library. He told councillors there were some businesses against the direction of the BID committee, but "almost all fully support the initiative."
Following Monday night's council meeting, Schmidt did not appear fazed by the decision to put off a final vote until the next meeting, saying it was part of the process.
"We knew it wouldn't be easy," said Schmidt. "There is a lot of red tape, a lot of hoops to jump through to get to the end goal, and we're going to see this through to the end."
