Merchantville SID

Wednesday, 29 March 2006 03:40

UPDATE ON MERCHANTVILLE’S SPECIAL IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT (SID)

A message about the activities and progress of the Steering Committee which was appointed by the Mayor to study the feasibility of implementing a Special Improvement District in Merchantville. Currently, there are over 80 Special Improvement Districts in the State of New Jersey, and over 2000 unique districts nationwide. The Committee has been addressing this question “Is a Special Improvement District right for us?” from our Merchantville perspective, asking questions such as:

Would a SID enhance the profitability of local businesses? Would it foster a favorable climate in which to do business? Could it enhance the quality of our lives by helping to ensure a vital, vibrant downtown community which serves the needs of residents and visitors?

With the assistance of an independent consultant retained by the committee, we have been meeting diligently and thoughtfully for over one year, Assessing the needs and expectations within our Merchantville business community, Assessing the unique challenges and opportunities presented by our local environment, Learning about the successes and challenges of existing Special Improvement Districts, Learning about the process of implementation, should it be our recommendation that the business community move forward in bringing a Special Improvement District into existence.

Organizations such as the MBPA, Main Street Merchantville, and the Merchantville Task Force have produced commendable results in our downtown over the years, while working in conjunction with our very supportive and proactive Borough government. By the same token, all have experienced the impact of dwindling volunteer and financial support.

The advantages of implementing a Special Improvement District include: Creation of a structure for consensus gathering within the business community, and build on that to create a comprehensive game plan for reaching common goals, Securing of a stable funding source, and Provision for consistent, professional management and execution of the work plan.

Unique challenges presented by our local situation include:
A relatively small overall geographic area and small number of properties which comprise our business district.
The non-contiguous geographic nature of our business districts (one central area and several satellite areas).
A relatively large percentage of non-taxable property within the central distict (30% owned by religious institutions and government).

Although many types of properties can and have been included in other Special Improvement Districts (including apartment buildings and complexes, residential/professional mixed use properties, and even residential property), there is a strong local sentiment to include only properties zoned for business use. The scope of possible services offered by any SID may vary widely, and may include enhancement of everyday municipal services, supplemental safety and sanitation services, capital projects and improvements, downtown event planning and management, and a host of business services.

Along this topic, several strong themes are recurrent within our local business community:

A Special Improvement District should not be engaged in activities which ‘ought to already be provided by the Borough’
A disproportionate share of funds should not be used on administrative and other overhead costs
All activities and services should be designed for positive impact on business sales and profitability.

Members of our business community have expressed a desire to see services of any local Special Improvement District strongly grounded in business marketing and promotion, as well as new business recruitment and retention of existing business. To this end, we have created a draft menu of possible services and activities, and we have begun to survey members of our business community for the purposes of further tuning, consensus building, and also to weigh the overall merit and value of such a program. Contrary to several comments we’ve heard, we have not completed work on a comprehensive recommendation, which ultimately would include proposals for: activities and budget, a clearly defined district and, a formula for funding the district

We have ‘tried on’ several models and are currently looking for creative solutions which perhaps will require that we venture ‘outside the box’ of conventional Special Improvement Districts.It is the strong opinion of members of the Steering Committee that a Special Improvement District could be implemented in Merchantville and would be of great benefit to the business community. It is our intention to present a recommendation for a solution which delivers maximum value and maximum return on investment for all stakeholders.

SUBMITTED BY Karl Wirth

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