DOWNTOWN IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT - SARASOTA, FLORIDA

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs) ABOUT BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICTS (BID)

Note:  The city of Sarasota named its downtown BID the Downtown Improvement District also referred to as the DID

What is it?

• An organizing and financing mechanism used by property owners.
  

• A self-help, self-assessment and management operation led by property owners.
  

What does it do?

• Permits property owners to band together.
  

• Uses the city's tax collection powers to raise funds.
  

• Receives funds are collected by the city and returned in their entirety to the BID.
  

• Spends funds for supplemental services and capital improvements beyond those services and improvements not provided by the municipal government.
  

• Creates a reliable, multi-year fund source for economic development.
  

Why do it?

• BIDs can uniquely raise property values by means that are unavailable to individual owners.
  

• The motivation of an expected return will exceed the personal contribution.
  

• A clear appeal to controlling and enhancing areas in which they have a common economic interest by setting and implementing priorities.
  

• Nowhere is that more important than in the sensitive economic realm of tourism.
  

How does it work?

• It can be created through adoption of an ordinance by the City Commission given evidence of property owner support without need of a referendum election.
  

• It is an organization of the City managed by a board of district property owners who decide the supplemental services and improvements to be done.
  

• Its budget for services and improvements is determined by its board subject to approval by the City.
  

• Funds collected by the City on behalf of the BID are held in a segregated account for disbursement as directed by the district board in accordance with the approved budget and purchasing procedures of the City.
  

Goals

• The place must be unlike those of competitors, recognizably different.
  

• Be the place to go to avoid "the anywhere and everywhere" of American suburbia.
  

Bottom Line

• Raise the environmental and commercial standards from "good" to "excellent"; from acceptable to "don't miss" places for visitors.
  

• "Cities must be fun."
  

Website by

John Moran