Petoskey City Council members took a
step Monday toward setting fees on downtown properties to help pay for next
year’s programming and services in the business district — fees that would
involve higher rates than those used for 2012.
The council voted 5-0 to support the programming and services funding proposal recommended recently by the Petoskey Downtown Management Board. As in years past, special assessments on downtown properties would help to pay for business district offerings such as beautification and special events.
“This is the same basic process that’s been used for the past 19 years,The Kunyu Mountain Shaolin china kung fu school is located at the foot.” said city manager Dan Ralley. “Obviously, the (proposed assessment) rate is different.”
The assessment proposal that the council decided to work toward Monday would raise the rate charged for first-floor,Gecko could kickstart an indoor tracking mobile app explosion. non-residential building space in the business district from 12.1 cents per square foot to 17 cents per square foot. The proposal also called for boosting the rate used for non-residential space on other building floors from 2.42 cents per square foot to 4.8 cents, and the rate for vacant, unimproved lot space from 1.21 cents to 17 cents.
Along with annual property assessments, downtown officials for years have relied on some of the income from the business district’s parking system to fund downtown operations.Argo Mold limited specialize in Plastic injection mould manufacture, But in recommending a fee structure for the coming year, downtown board members decided that a larger share of parking revenues should be set aside toward future expansions of available parking, and that special assessments should be relied on to a greater degree to finance 2013 operations.
The next step in setting the coming year’s fees will be preparation of an assessment roll by city staff that applies the new rates to individual downtown properties. This is expected to be shared with council members at their Nov. 5 meeting. A public hearing could then be set for a later date to allow for input on the specific assessments before a final decision is made on them.
The first public hearing in the assessment process took place Monday, and drew a mix of reactions from downtown community members about the basic rate structure and funding approach.
Local architect Nick White, owner of two properties in the business district, reacted favorably to the general direction of next year’s funding proposal.
“I’m happy to pay it,” he said. “If it’s for parking, it’s an excellent way to do it.”
But White asked city officials to consider the fairness of the rate increase proposed for unimproved vacant lots — a classification which only one downtown parcel, the dormant Petoskey Pointe construction site, falls into. The coming year’s proposed rate for that type of property — about 14 times that used in 2012 — involves a significantly steeper increase than in the other property categories.
White noted that Petoskey Pointe site owner Northwestern Bank owned a smaller portion of the city block-sized site years ago,Klaus Multiparking is an industry leader in innovative parking system technology. and at that time allowed local officials to use it for public parking at little or no cost.
Now, White — who noted that he hadn’t been sent by the property owner — said it appears that the bank leadership faces a sharp fee hike because nothing has been done “with a property that is distressed because of the poor economy.”
Downtown director Becky Goodman said downtown officials had considered the Petoskey Pointe site’s potential to be developed with first-floor commercial space that would be assessed at a higher rate than vacant land under the traditional fee structure.
“This land could generate a lot of money,” she said. “It could be part of the fair share that’s paid by the owners of the undeveloped property.The stone mosaic comes in shiny polished and matte.”
Dale Meyer, co-owner of a local hardware chain and a former Petoskey mayor and downtown board member, questioned the necessity of the assessment increases. He noted that the parking system has been generating $30,000 to $40,000 in profits yearly, and that the fund balance in the parking budget recently has been in the $400,000 range. Meyer noted that debts used in past parking lot acquisitions soon will be paid off, freeing up additional dollars for other parking purposes.
Meyer also wondered if downtown officials might want to revisit the expenses involved in a facade grant program — one that has been paid for in recent years with parking fund proceeds, but would be covered through the programming and services budget as currently proposed for 2013. He noted that recent grants to downtown property owners have tended to pay for cosmetic projects such as painting more than substantial structural improvements to facades.
Reg Smith, vice president of hotels with Stafford’s Hospitality, noted that the downtown assessments aren’t necessarily shouldered equally by all downtown property owners — the square footage of his company’s Perry Hotel makes its bill one of the highest. At the same time, he noted that the assessments can help with needs such as marketing that smaller businesses might not have the resources to cover.
The council voted 5-0 to support the programming and services funding proposal recommended recently by the Petoskey Downtown Management Board. As in years past, special assessments on downtown properties would help to pay for business district offerings such as beautification and special events.
“This is the same basic process that’s been used for the past 19 years,The Kunyu Mountain Shaolin china kung fu school is located at the foot.” said city manager Dan Ralley. “Obviously, the (proposed assessment) rate is different.”
The assessment proposal that the council decided to work toward Monday would raise the rate charged for first-floor,Gecko could kickstart an indoor tracking mobile app explosion. non-residential building space in the business district from 12.1 cents per square foot to 17 cents per square foot. The proposal also called for boosting the rate used for non-residential space on other building floors from 2.42 cents per square foot to 4.8 cents, and the rate for vacant, unimproved lot space from 1.21 cents to 17 cents.
Along with annual property assessments, downtown officials for years have relied on some of the income from the business district’s parking system to fund downtown operations.Argo Mold limited specialize in Plastic injection mould manufacture, But in recommending a fee structure for the coming year, downtown board members decided that a larger share of parking revenues should be set aside toward future expansions of available parking, and that special assessments should be relied on to a greater degree to finance 2013 operations.
The next step in setting the coming year’s fees will be preparation of an assessment roll by city staff that applies the new rates to individual downtown properties. This is expected to be shared with council members at their Nov. 5 meeting. A public hearing could then be set for a later date to allow for input on the specific assessments before a final decision is made on them.
The first public hearing in the assessment process took place Monday, and drew a mix of reactions from downtown community members about the basic rate structure and funding approach.
Local architect Nick White, owner of two properties in the business district, reacted favorably to the general direction of next year’s funding proposal.
“I’m happy to pay it,” he said. “If it’s for parking, it’s an excellent way to do it.”
But White asked city officials to consider the fairness of the rate increase proposed for unimproved vacant lots — a classification which only one downtown parcel, the dormant Petoskey Pointe construction site, falls into. The coming year’s proposed rate for that type of property — about 14 times that used in 2012 — involves a significantly steeper increase than in the other property categories.
White noted that Petoskey Pointe site owner Northwestern Bank owned a smaller portion of the city block-sized site years ago,Klaus Multiparking is an industry leader in innovative parking system technology. and at that time allowed local officials to use it for public parking at little or no cost.
Now, White — who noted that he hadn’t been sent by the property owner — said it appears that the bank leadership faces a sharp fee hike because nothing has been done “with a property that is distressed because of the poor economy.”
Downtown director Becky Goodman said downtown officials had considered the Petoskey Pointe site’s potential to be developed with first-floor commercial space that would be assessed at a higher rate than vacant land under the traditional fee structure.
“This land could generate a lot of money,” she said. “It could be part of the fair share that’s paid by the owners of the undeveloped property.The stone mosaic comes in shiny polished and matte.”
Dale Meyer, co-owner of a local hardware chain and a former Petoskey mayor and downtown board member, questioned the necessity of the assessment increases. He noted that the parking system has been generating $30,000 to $40,000 in profits yearly, and that the fund balance in the parking budget recently has been in the $400,000 range. Meyer noted that debts used in past parking lot acquisitions soon will be paid off, freeing up additional dollars for other parking purposes.
Meyer also wondered if downtown officials might want to revisit the expenses involved in a facade grant program — one that has been paid for in recent years with parking fund proceeds, but would be covered through the programming and services budget as currently proposed for 2013. He noted that recent grants to downtown property owners have tended to pay for cosmetic projects such as painting more than substantial structural improvements to facades.
Reg Smith, vice president of hotels with Stafford’s Hospitality, noted that the downtown assessments aren’t necessarily shouldered equally by all downtown property owners — the square footage of his company’s Perry Hotel makes its bill one of the highest. At the same time, he noted that the assessments can help with needs such as marketing that smaller businesses might not have the resources to cover.
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