Recently, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder signed into law a bill to enhance the state’s business improvement zones. This is a program funded by businesses located within a given zone and used to improve the area, provide growth opportunities, and increase local property values.
The new bill modifies the existing law by streamlining the process to establish a zone, increase from seven years to ten years the time one of these zones can operate without reauthorization, revise voting rules in a way that reduces the proportion of owners needed to dissolve one, reduce notice and public meeting requirements required to establish a zone, allow the zone to sell services to particular property owners, increase penalties for not paying the special assessment property taxes these entities impose, and authorizes business improvement zones to merge with other zones, due to the great number of small, scattered ones in downtown Detroit. Additionally, Detroit is the primary focus of the bill, but the zones are not limited to Detroit.
Business improvement zones have been around since the early 1960s. But this new bill teaks the law to give larger businesses with more capital more ability to control the process. Typically referred to as ‘clean and safe’ services, business improvement zones can include everything from supplemental security, street cleaning and trash removal, to landscaping, wayfinding, and general marketing.
Successful business improvement zone formation is a time-consuming effort that can be easily misunderstood by the business community, local government, or both. Don’t pursue the formation of one if you:
- aren’t prepared to do the homework (research, Zone Plan development, etc.);
- aren’t willing to reach out, listen to, and communicate with the property owners and other stakeholders in the district;
- don’t have the support and active participation of a core group of affected property owners from the very beginning;
- won’t commit to staff support to get the work done; or
- won’t make the commitment to going door-to-door to explain the BIZ concept to each and every commercial property owner involved.
If properly taken advantage of, this new bill will mean the revitalization of local economies across the state and an enhanced quality of living for all Michigan residents.
http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2013-2014/publicact/htm/2013-PA-0126.htm
This article was written by Roger Leshinsky, law clerk. Please contact the attorneys at Demorest Law Firm if you have any questions.
