Lewiston improvement district being dissolved
Feb. 7—A business improvement district that generated about $165,000 annually for downtown Lewiston is being dissolved and will no longer be collecting revenue from property owners in the commercial area.
Ratepayers who provide more than 50% of the district's revenue signed a petition for it to be disbanded, said Shannon Grow, Lewiston's community development director.
The rules of the district require it to be discontinued if that occurs, she said.
Absent the petition, the district that was formed in October 2020 would have terminated on Dec. 31, 2026, Grow said.
An update on the status of the district was provided to Lewiston's mayor and city council at a meeting earlier this week when the council voted to stop collection of revenue for the district.
The district has about $160,000 in its coffers, Grow said, and it's her understanding it will be returned to district ratepayers after any outstanding bills are covered and the district pays for the installation of previously purchased items, she said.
Some of the most significant upgrades the district's revenue went to were the purchase of five benches, 16 trash receptacles, 20 planters and sunshades for Brackenbury Square, said Brenda Morgan, executive director of Beautiful Downtown Lewiston (BDL).
Those are the items being installed with money from the district, Grow said.
The district also replaced bulbs in decorative lights, decluttered signage for "more business visibility and ease of way-finding" and completed a re-patina of the bronze statues in Brackenbury Square and Pioneer Park, giving them 15-20 more years of life, Morgan said.
Downtown is the "birth canal" of Lewiston that later turned into a transportation "artery that has had to have infusions along the way of both public and private capital for more than 160 years," Dennis Ohrtman, a member of the business improvement district board, said at the meeting.
"That's not going to go away," Ohrtman said. "We know that the experiment that we dealt with in the business improvement district did not meet the expectations that we thought it would, but I hope that councilors will continue their proud record of many years of support of the development of downtown."
Until December, BDL administered the business improvement district's revenue. That responsibility was reassigned to the city of Lewiston.
Last year BDL billed the district about $18,500 at a rate of $40 per hour from January through early December, according to documents provided to city officials.
That money covered work such as bookkeeping, updates to the BDL website, planning activities like Sound Downtown, a free outdoor warm-weather concert series.
During the same time frame, BDL also billed the district about $17,520 for labor of volunteers, at the same rate of $40 per hour for contributions such as planning events.
The disbanding of the business improvement district is anticipated to have minimal impact on BDL, which will continue its efforts to help downtown thrive, Morgan said.
BDL has forecast receiving $65,000 in memberships and $160,000 in event sponsorships in the upcoming year, Morgan said.
That's in addition to a service contract focused on economic development from the city of Lewiston that's worth as much as $30,000 in the city's present fiscal year, she said.
Businesses have reported increases in business of between 60% percent and 250% on days of BDL events, Morgan said.
Among them are Plaid Friday, which happens the day after Thanksgiving, Crazy Days and Ladies Day Out. Others are Sound Downtown, Pumpkin Palooza and Artwalk.
Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.
