Council approves Business Improvement District

The Kalispell City Council approved a new Business Improvement District (BID) by a vote of 6 to 2 at its Monday night meeting.

The new BID will extend the current boundaries to include properties previously just outside the district.

The BID has been at work with a purpose of bettering the downtown Kalispell area through community events, beautification projects and marketing campaigns meant to attract more business and raise property values through self-taxation of its members.

Council member Phil Guiffrida said the vote to create the new BID was an easy one once council had all the information.

“Look at the facts. Look at the numbers,” Guiffrida said.

The BID’s petition received 62.8 percent support from property owners within the proposed boundaries, slightly above the legal requirement for creation. There was also less than 15 percent actively opposed to the new boundaries. The requirement to stop the motion is 50 percent.

“You know how thorough I am with these things,” Guiffrida said. “It’s a low minority.”

Council member Rod Kuntz agreed with Guiffrida but also mentioned the increased property values for every property within the BID as argument against those who felt they would receive no benefit from being included.

The council also investigated allegations against some of the BID’s spending actions and called into question its “propriety.”

Guiffrida said that while there was room for improvement within the BID, he found there were no “shenanigans afoot.”

AMONG THE members opposed to the BID was council member Tim Kluesner who felt he had to give a voice to the minority.

Kluesner argued that property values were on the rise everywhere, not just within the BID boundaries, as a result of the current economy.

“I look at property values every day, so I think I know what I’m talking about,” Kluesner said.

While Kluesner conceded that the law had been followed in creating the new BID, he felt the law was a bad one in need of change.

Council member Wayne Saverud abstained from voting because he owns property within the BID.

WITH OCCASIONAL breaks in discussion for basketball score updates for Mayor Mark Johnson, the council passed the new BID, agreeing that while ultimately the legal requirements were met, the new members needed to be a priority when creating the new board, new budget and when looking at the tiered assessment process for deciding how much each property paid.

For more information on the Kalispell City Council and its agenda, visit http://kalispell.com/mayor_and_city_council/.

To learn more about the Business Improvement District or to learn how to get involved, go to http://www.downtownkalispell.com/about/kalispell-business-improvement-district.

Reporter Mary Cloud Taylor can be reached at 758-4459 or mtaylor@dailyinterlake.com.