VENTURA : Council OKs Fee for Business Promotion
The Ventura City Council resolved Monday to form a business improvement district that would allow downtown merchants to tax themselves to pay for advertising, promotion and street beautification.
The council voted 6 to 0 in favor of the resolution, the first step in formation of the district.
Councilman Todd Collart was absent from the meeting.
The Downtown Ventura Assn. formed a group of 22 merchants last April to study the district in an effort to boost slow sales and help find tenants for vacant stores along Main Street and Thompson Boulevard.
The average annual fee for businesses in the district would be $275, but fees could range from $150 for banks, lawyers and doctors to $500 a year for businesses with at least 10 employees.
The money would be put into a group account and spent on revitalizing the downtown area, providing security guards during the holiday shopping season and promoting the area to out-of-town businesses that might want to settle in Ventura.
The proposed district must have the approval of 51% of the 427 businesses inside its boundaries. A public hearing is scheduled Oct. 28.
Some downtown merchants have opposed the idea, saying that it amounts to a new tax to pay for activities the city government ought to be handling.
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