Plan for Fees on Businesses to Be Aired

The City Council today will consider establishing a downtown Business Improvement District, which would levy fees on downtown merchants to help promote the area.

The idea, unveiled in December, has bitterly divided downtown merchants. Annual fees would probably be between $200 and $300 but could range as high as $600 a year.

An organizational committee, which for a year has been devising a means of better promoting downtown businesses, estimates that it would collect about $50,000 from merchants in the first year of operation.

A public hearing will be held before the council votes on the issue.

Proponents say an improvement district would elevate the shopping district’s profile, help spur business and provide merchants with an authoritative body for addressing local business concerns.

Many merchants, however, object to the fees that would be charged by the Huntington Beach Downtown Business Assn., which would represent the business district. Opponents say that small merchants would pay an unfair portion of the annual dues and that the benefits would not be worth the costs.

The fees would support the association, and no city funds would be spent on the program. The district requires City Council approval, however, because only the city can collect the dues. Under state law, fees for a Business Improvement District must be collected by a public agency. The money would then be forwarded to the association.

As proposed, merchants would be charged between $100 and $600 per year, depending upon the type of business and how many employees it has.

For example, a restaurant or retail shop with 15 or fewer employees would pay $300 a year, and those with more than 15 workers would pay $400. Mann Theatres is the only business that would pay the $600 maximum.

The district would include about 250 merchants in an irregularly shaped area bounded by Pacific Coast Highway, Beach Boulevard, 9th Street and Palm Avenue.