At last week's Board of Trustees meeting (April 15) a presentation was made by Ron Edelson, the executive director of the Great Neck Plaza BID, discussing the benefits and challenges of forming a BID. He also provided a first hand account of the success of a BID and the obstacles the BID will face during its operation. Residents and the trustees were afforded an opportunity to question Edelson as well.

The greatest challenges, according to Edelson, are finding directors for the BID's Board (who can dedicate at least 10-15 hours a week to this service and understand that the BID will have no staff, thus they are the staff, from public speaking as he himself was doing to sealing countless envelopes) and the misconceptions the public often has about what a BID really is and what it can do. There are limitations to what a BID can do, Edelson explained, and the progress a BID can make often develops over time and people grow impatient when they don't see immediate results. BID's have limited budgets, do not have the power to dictate that a property owner actually take their recommendations where their property is concerned, nor can they compel the local government to act according to the BIDs wishes. A BID is not a lobbying group, however, Edelson stated, the BID certainly can make recommendations and encourage property owners and the local government to act.

In Great Neck Plaza, the BID has been successful in developing coordinated efforts among the businesses for promotional events and developing a window look for the area that makes the area feel like a unit, rather than a haphazard collection of businesses. Edelson stated that their BID looked at advertising as their primary means of promoting their business district. They looked at what malls and major retailers have done to draw attention and thus shoppers and worked to apply these principles to drawing shoppers to Great Neck Plaza. He also stressed that the key is to help merchants see the benefits of bringing people to Great Neck Plaza as a unified shopping area, rather than just one store. He said that when merchants see the benefits of having the consumers in the Village as a whole, all of the shops benefit.

"BIDs are not a panacea," Edelson admitted. He said that people see vacancies in stores and want to know what the BID is going to do to fix it. He noted that every BID has its own budget and has to agree on how to use it. In Great Neck Plaza the BID has conducted surveys and worked to help property owners advertise available office space in major publications. They've worked to develop information kits about the Village for property owners to help attract tenants to the Village and they've worked to promote tenant sharing, where if a property owner gets a call from a prospective tenant and they don't have the appropriate space, but they know another building in the Village does, they'll share this information with the tenant and the other property owner. They've also worked to encourage merchants to share customers by saying, "We don't have that in stock, but the store down the street does," because, Edelson says, "They were losing that customer anyway, and this way they stay in the Village, and they'll come back there to shop and maybe the other store will send shoppers your way."

Edelson said that Huntington Village's BID exists mostly to maintain a certain level of visual quality. They use their budget for security and clean up. Port Washington has a small BID and have been looking at cleaning the streets and decorations. He noted that Port Washington has worked on developing pockets of the business area one at a time and have had slow and steady progress.

He stressed that because the BID's money comes from taxes, a tax only on the commercial property that is part of the BID, and is a tax to which the property owners have agreed, what they do with the money is up to them and is voted upon by the Board, comprised of 3 representatives from the municipality (who recuse themselves from budget votes), 6 individual property owners, and 2 tenants. The maximum a BID can tax is 20 percent of the local assessed taxable amount. He added that there are other fund raising things the BID can accomplish to augment its own budget as well. The BID can work with the municipality to co-op costs for items like street signs for municipal lots and hiring additional security or to provide better lighting at night in the municipal lots.

It's very important, he noted, that the public be made to understand that the public will not be taxed at all for the BID. Tenants will not be taxed either. The tax is to the property owners only. There were two cases where a BID failed to be approved because the municipality was overwhelmed with loudly and angrily voiced objections from residents who misunderstood the proposal and believed that they would see an increase in their taxes. Unable to convince the public and afraid of the results come Election Day, according to Edelson, these municipalities refused to use their votes to approve the BID.

Trustees and residents at the meeting questioned the difference between the BID's role and that of the Village and Garden City Chamber of Commerce, which both currently do many of the things Edelson was discussing, such as host free concerts for the employees of the office space and promotional events. The Chamber has window decorating contests each winter and the Village is currently working on the Franklin Avenue Streetscape. Edelson explained that the BID will not replace these, rather it can augment them and serve as a catalyst for more such programs. The BID can help the Village target goals and work with the property owners.

The most important thing the BID can accomplish that a muncipality cannot by law and a Chamber often cannot because of limited funds, is advertising, said Edelson. He noted that in Great Neck Plaza they found that the average advertising budget was $4,000 a year and have helped encourage an increase to a current average of $6,000, which he says is still far too small. The BID, he explained, can help pay for ads promoting the Village and the entire business district, which will help bring people to the area to shop and helps all the businesses.

Edelson also explained that there are ways to dissolve the BID if the municipality or property owners so choose. If the BID is successful and residents wish to support it, there are also advisory positions that can be used in areas like beautification. These positions, he explained, really are to support the business district as a whole and not specifically the BID, as the BID only exists to achieve the goals of the district.

One issue raised, and addressed by Edelson and then Trustee Judy Asselta, who serves on the Business Planning Coalition, is that a BID area has to be mapped out and must by law be contiguous. New Hyde Park Road, therefore, could not become part of the BID. Asselta said that the BID would primarily be for "the T-Zone."

Edelson concluded by reaffirming his personal belief that a BID certainly faces challenges, "It's not a mall, there isn't one dictator who runs it and decides everything. Here there are a number of individual property owners who ultimately are worried about their property and interests." He said that despite these challenges, he sees a BID as a positive aid for municipalities and the business district. He argued that by working with the Village and Chamber, the BID can help revitalization efforts.

Following the meeting, the Village Clerk's Office made the following explanation of the process of forming a BID available:

The process of establishing a BID must be presented to property owners and merchants in the proposed district and should be fully explained in order to avoid the defeat of the proposed BID.

In order to set up a BID the following steps must be taken:

1. Adoption of local law, subject to permissive referendum.

2. After 30 days after the adoption and a petition has not been filed requesting a referendum, the Board may then adopt a resolution authorizing the preparation of a district plan for the BID. The Board may adopt this resolution (a) upon its own motion; (b) upon request of the Mayor, individual or agency designated by the Mayor; (c) by the written petition of the owners of at least 51 percent of the assessed valuation of all the taxable real property within the boundaries of the district and at least 51 percent of the owners of real property within the area included in the district. The Board of Trustees is the final decision-making body and is not required to adopt the resolution even though a request is received from the above-mentioned sources.

The district plan will outline the proposed boundaries of the BID, the services and improvements to be implemented, describe the budget and method of assessment and provide for the management of the BID.

The plan may be prepared by the Village or by an outside firm. The cost is a municipal charge. If a BID is established the expense will be reimbursed by the district unless after a public hearing a proportional amount is established. There is no limit for the completion of the district plan.

3. The district plan is filed in the Village Clerk's office and the establishment of the district is based on this plan. The Board of Trustees may then adopt a resolution which must contain a copy of the plan and notice where it may be inspected; the date of a public hearing; a statement that any owner deemed benefited within the district must file any written objections within 30 days of the conclusion of the public hearing, The statement should also state that the district will not be established if written objections are received from the owners of 51 percent of the assessed valuation of all the benefited real property within the district or 51 percent of the owners of benefited real property within the district (not including tax exempt property.)

If the proposed district is small, one property who owns 51 percent of the assessed property could object and avert the establishment of the BID.

There is no requirement to adopt this resolution merely because a district plan has been prepared.

4. The resolution must be published at least 10 days but not more than 30 days before public hearing. A copy must be mailed to each owner of real property within the district and to all other persons who receive tax bills for property located in the district and to the tenants of each building within the district.

5. Public hearing is held. Only one is required.

6. Thirty days after the hearing, the Board must determine whether the proper number of objections have been filed and if the proper number has been filed a resolution must be adopted disapproving the establishment of the district with the reason included. The Board of Trustees may not consider the establishment of a BID including any of the same properties for at least one year.

If the proper number of objections have not been filed, the Board must consider (a) whether notices of public hearing was published and mailed as required; (b) whether all real property in the district will benefit; (c) whether all real property benefited is included within the limits of the proposed district and (d) whether the establishment of the district is in the public interest.

There are three possible outcomes based upon consideration of these questions: disapproval, further hearings or approval.

7. The plan must be reviewed by the State Comptroller and must be forwarded within 20 days of adoption of local law establishing the district together with financial information on indebetedness, assessed valuation and average full valuation of taxable real property of the Village.

The State Comptroller must notify the Village within 60 days of receipt of this information and upon receipt of a favorable determination from the Comptroller and compliance with the filing requirements the local law becomes effective and the Village may proceed with the BID.

8. Each district must establish a district management association (DMA) which will be responsible for carrying out the activities described in the district plan. The Board may grant the DMA the right to undertake or permit commercial activities or other private uses of the streets or any other Village property within the district.

The DMA must be incorporated under the not-for-profit corporation law. There are three incorporaters - one appointed by the Mayor, one by the chief financial officer and one by a member of the Board of Trustees. The DMA's by-laws must provide for voting representation by owners and tenants in the district. The vote of owners may be weighted in proportion to the assessment of their property but the total number for one member may not exceed 33 1/3 percent.

The Board of Directors of the DMA must consist of owners and tenants in the BID. Owners must make up a majority of the Board of Directors and tenants must include those in commercial space as well as residential units. The three incorporators will also sit on the Board of Directors.