Downtown property and business owners should receive a notice sometime in the next week from Downtown Vision Inc. about the organization’s effort to renew its contract with the City.
Legislation yet to be filed but discussed at the group’s Downtown Operations meeting on Wednesday would renew the Downtown Jacksonville Improvement District for a seven-year term beginning Oct. 1.
The district is a 90-block neighborhood in which property owners pay a self-assessment for Downtown improvements. Downtown Vision, a nonprofit, uses those funds to provide services to supplement what the City provides.
Created after a request from Downtown property owners, Downtown Vision originated in 2000 under a five-year term and was renewed in 2005 for a seven-year term, said Amy Harrell, its director of district services.
Harrell said the organization seeks the same terms it had for the 2005 contract and she urged Downtown property owners to continue to show support.
She said they can do so by sending letters of support or by attending public hearings at 9 a.m. Aug. 7, when the Council Finance Committee meets, or at 5 p.m. Aug. 14, the regularly scheduled full Council meeting.
The City owns about 25 percent of the district properties and pays the equivalent of the assessment, about $300,000, compared with the $700,000 paid by the property owners, said Paul Crawford, acting director of the City Office of Economic Development.
City properties are not on the tax rolls.
“You have a stake in this, so please stand up and contact your Council members and encourage the renewal of the district,” Crawford said.
About 20 people attended the meeting, held at the Main Library.
In other news:
• Crawford and Jack Shad, City Parking Facilities and Enforcement Division chief, briefly discussed upcoming parking legislation that eases restrictions on what the City can charge for spaces in City-owned parking garages. They said the legislation would make some lots more competitive and also more efficient on the collection side by eliminating odd amounts that require coinage for change.
• The annual painting of the paw prints along Bay Street from the Main Street Bridge to EverBank Field will be 8-11 a.m. Aug. 11 starting at the base of the bridge. Business owner Bonnie Arnold, representing the Downtown Council of the JAX Chamber that produces the event, said the painting of the 263 yellow prints along the thoroughfare continues to grow in popularity. Anyone interested in participating can visit the Downtown Council Facebook page for information. Advance notice is encouraged so the group can make accommodations for refreshments.
356-2466