Title
Recommendation to Approve the Park Street Business Improvement Area (BIA) Annual Assessment Report; and
Adoption of Resolution of Intention to Levy an Annual Assessment on the Park Street BIA of the City of Alameda for Fiscal Year (FY) 2018-19 and Set a Public Hearing for May 1, 2018 to Levy an Annual Assessment on the Park Street BIA (Community Development 256000)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Elizabeth D. Warmerdam, Acting City Manager
Re: Recommendation to Approve the Park Street Business Improvement Area (BIA) Annual Assessment Report; Adoption of Resolution of Intention to Levy an Annual Assessment on the Park Street BIA of the City of Alameda for Fiscal Year (FY) 2018-19; and Set a Public Hearing for May 1, 2018 to Levy an Annual Assessment on the Park Street BIA
BACKGROUND
In 1989, following the adoption of the Parking and Business Improvement Area Law of 1979 in section 36500 et seq. of the California Streets and Highways Code, the City Council established regulations for Business Improvement Areas (BIAs) in the Park Street and Webster Street commercial areas. This staff report is for the Park Street BIA, which is managed by the Downtown Alameda Business Association (DABA).
The Park Street BIA is funded from fees collected by the City of Alameda from all businesses within that business district. The pooling of resources improves the business district as a whole and directly benefits business owners through the general promotion of business activities and public events, beautification and ambiance, construction and maintenance of parking facilities, and special projects benefitting the business area.
State law and Alameda Municipal Code (AMC) sections 6-7.7, 6-7.11, and 6-7.16 require the City Council to work in collaboration with a BIA advisory board. The board prepares an annual report and provides recommendations to the City Council on the proposed expenditure of BIA revenues for its geographic area. The AMC also requires an annual review by the City Council and a yearly consideration of the assessment.
DISCUSSION
DABA’s Board of Directors, designated as the BIA’s advisory board, has prepared the Annual Assessment Report for Fiscal Year (FY) 2018-19 (Exhibit 1). The report describes, in general terms, the activities and expenditures that have occurred in the Park Street BIA during the current Fiscal Year, FY 2017-18, as well as a work plan outlining the proposed use of BIA funds for the upcoming Fiscal Year, FY 2018-19. DABA’s signature events, which attract thousands of patrons to the District, include a Spring Festival, an Art & Wine Faire, and a Classic Car Show. DABA has also developed new events, such as The Whiskey Walk and the Hot Cocoa Crawl. In addition to its annual events, DABA produces a yearly shopping guide, advertises and promotes events in area magazines and local newspapers, utilizes pre-movie ad campaigns at the Alameda Theatre for promotion of special events and the District overall, and assists local businesses. These activities are designed to improve the vitality of the District, increase sales and sales tax revenues, promote members’ businesses, attract new businesses, and enhance the overall business atmosphere throughout the District.
With the evolution of the former auto row section of Park Street (north of Lincoln Avenue) into a more vibrant retail area, DABA has incorporated into its FY 2018-19 work plan a reexamination of its BIA boundaries to include the Park Street Landing property (e.g. Dragon Rouge, Dollar Store, O’Reilly Auto Parts). DABA will work with City staff to develop a strategy to implement those changes. Any proposed changes in the BIA boundary would need City Council’s approval before levying the FY 2019-20 BIA assessment.
The Park Street BIA currently has approximately 473 members, and annual fees vary depending on the type of business and its location. The Park Street BIA has two benefit areas (Zone A and Zone B). Zone A is the core downtown area along Park Street. Zone B includes the areas north of Lincoln and south of Encinal, along Park Street and several side streets. While businesses in both zones get the same basic services (listing in the DABA guidebook, access to the DABA web site, assistance from DABA, etc.), when the District was established, it was determined that the businesses in Zone B do not benefit equally from DABA’s special events. Therefore, the Zone B assessment is lower than the Zone A assessment. The assessment is calculated based on gross receipts. There is a minimum and a maximum assessment for both Zone A and Zone B. A minimum assessment was established to ensure that there would be sufficient funds to administer the BIA. The maximum assessment acknowledges that there are a few business types (gas stations, banks, etc.) whose gross receipts are much higher than other retailers and that a cap would be appropriate for those businesses.
Per AMC section 6-7.5, each year the BIA assessment has an automatic Consumer Price Index (CPI) increase based on the San Francisco Area CPI. This year’s CPI increase of 2.9% raises the minimum retail business annual fee by $9.00, to $332. Included with this report is the FY 2018-19 BIA assessment fee schedule (Exhibit 2), a map of the BIA (Exhibit 3), and a BIA address list (Exhibit 4).
The annual BIA assessment requires a two-step process. First, the City Council must approve the Annual Assessment Report and pass a Resolution of Intent to Levy an Assessment. Second, City Council must set a public hearing to approve the new assessment. The public hearing is scheduled for May 1, 2018 and will take place at City Council Chambers, Alameda City Hall, 2263 Santa Clara Avenue, third floor, at or after 7:00 p.m. At the public hearing, the City Council can modify the Assessment Report or confirm the report as filed. All BIA members will receive notification of the public hearing, in addition to instructions on how to protest the BIA renewal, should they wish to do so. FY 2018-19 assessments cannot be levied if protests are received by the owners of businesses in the area which will pay fifty percent (50%) or more of the proposed assessment.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
BIA billing is done concurrently with Business License billing. Revenues from the BIA directly benefit business owners in specified geographic and benefit zones through the promotion of business and similar eligible activities. The primary financial impact to the General Fund is in the form of Finance Department staff costs to process BIA billings and expenditures, estimated to be approximately $6,500 annually ($1,856 for WABA and $4,644 for DABA) and included in the Business License Program Budget (Fund 001, Program 2450). This staffing cost has been absorbed within existing staff workloads to provide indirect financial support to the business districts.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
The annual renewal of the BIA supports the goals of the Economic Development Strategic Plan through continued operation of the business association consistent with AMC Sec. 6-7.1 et seq.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This action involves government fiscal activities which do not involve any commitment to any project which may result in a potentially significant physical impact on the environment and is exempt from environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15378(b)(4).
RECOMMENDATION
Approve the Park Street Business Improvement Area Annual Assessment Report; adopt a Resolution of Intention to Levy an Annual Assessment on the Park Street Business Improvement Area of the City of Alameda for FY 2018-19; and set a public hearing for May 1, 2018, to levy an annual assessment on the Park Street Business Improvement Area.
Respectfully submitted,
Debbie Potter, Community Development Director
By,
Eric Fonstein, Development Manager
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Edwin Gato, Acting Finance Director
Exhibits:
1. DABA’s Annual Assessment Report
2. BIA Assessment Fee Schedule FY 2018-19
3. BIA Boundaries Map
4. BIA Address List
cc: Downtown Alameda Business Association