For the second straight year, Downtown Vision Inc. is asking the city to fund the nonprofit based on the value of municipal property, just as private property owners have done for 15 years.
Don’t count on it, said Lori Boyer, the City Council member who serves as liaison to the Downtown Investment Authority, which approves DVI’s budget.
DVI’s leadership presented the group’s proposed budget to the DIA on Wednesday.
In 2000, property owners in a 90-block Business Improvement District agreed to pay an additional 1.1 mills in ad valorem tax to fund DVI to support clean and safe programs, market the urban core and produce events intended to increase the value of Downtown.
The city is the largest land owner Downtown and its holdings represent 31 percent of the assessed value in the district.
For the past two years, the city capped its contribution at $311,660. That’s about 0.7 mills, based on the value of the city property.
Jake Gordon, who took over as executive director of DVI two weeks ago, told his board Wednesday that it’s time for the city to pay its fair share, since the city receives the benefits of the nonprofit’s services just as private property owners do.
If the city were to pay the full 1.1 mills, the contribution to DVI would increase by about $170,000.
That sentiment was echoed later in the day when Gordon and DVI board member Bill Prescott presented the proposed 2015-16 budget to the DIA.
Prescott said the lower contribution put DVI at a $220,000 deficit last year, which was covered by using reserve funds. The board has since decided DVI must operate with a balanced budget.
“We ask this body to approve that the city pay its fair share,” Prescott said.
By reducing payroll and some other expenses and increasing revenue from Art Walk concession sales, Prescott said, DVI has about $50,000 more in its proposed budget than last year.
The nonprofit proposes to combine those funds with the additional funding sought from the city to create a $220,000 line item in its budget that would be used to better activate the Riverwalks on the Northbank and Southbank. It also would pay for promoting “The Elbow,” an entertainment district of bars and restaurants along and near East Bay Street.
Boyer said during the DIA meeting the city will have only so much money for Downtown operations and improvements, but there are many needs throughout the county that also must be addressed with limited funds available.
She said while DVI’s efforts help improve the urban core, the benefit is limited to possibly increasing the value of private property and there is “little benefit” to the city.
“We’re not in the rental market. We don’t care if rents go up,” Boyer said.
As for maintaining and improving the Riverwalk environment, she said that’s being done by the city Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department. In addition, the city provides events such as the Jacksonville Jazz Festival that promote Downtown.
Gordon said DVI is analyzing the situation to ensure services are not duplicated.
Putting more funding into Downtown might be a tough sell when the council budget committee begins analyzing appropriation requests from myriad sources.
“There are limits to how much goes Downtown versus how much goes to every other need in the city,” Boyer said.
The authority’s board approved DVI’s proposed budget at $1.5 million including the $170,000 increase in city funding.
Board member Tony Allegretti did not attend the meeting Wednesday. In a May 20 letter to board Chair Oliver Barakat, Allegretti resigned from the authority effective this past Tuesday.
Allegretti, who was named executive director of the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville months after he was appointed to the authority, said he resigned “to avoid a perception of conflict” as the cultural organization and the authority have partnered to carry out urban art initiatives.
He recused himself from voting each time the authority made decisions about the arts program.
“I am a bit bummed that I won’t be able to serve my entire term, but I know you’ll be able to find a capable and energetic replacement as you continue to build a great new chapter in the story of our amazing Downtown,” he wrote.
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