Business district may be canceled

Bay View petition asks officials to terminate it

A group that funds Bay View neighborhood improvement work could duck a pending termination — if it can attract enough supporters.

A petition to terminate the Bay View Business Improvement District is pending before city officials after a Plan Commission hearing Monday.

The district’s fate will be determined by the number of its opponents.

Wisconsin law says a city will end a business improvement district if a termination petition is filed by the owners of commercial properties with assessed values totaling more than 50 percent of all the district’s assessed value.

The Bay View petition’s property owners initially accounted for more than 51 percent of the assessed value, said Ada Duffey, who helped lead the termination drive.

But some of those property owners have since taken their names off the petition, said Duffey, who owns commercial buildings at 2224-2232 and 2234-2238 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.

As a result, the petition’s signatures now total less than 50 percent of the business district’s assessed value, she said.

Under state law, signatures can be added, or removed, up until 30 days after the Plan Commission hearing.

The district runs along South Kinnickinnic Avenue from East Becher Street to East Morgan Avenue.

It raises money with a special assessment on commercial properties of $1 per $1,000 of assessed value. The maximum annual assessment is $1,000 per property, and the minimum assessment is $100.

The average assessment is $196. The BID’s most recent annual budget, totaling $55,200, includes $26,500 for street beautification work, $7,000 for event coordination and $6,000 for general marketing and promotion. Remaining funds are budgeted for overhead, an audit, insurance and safety/community outreach.

Those efforts haven’t been worth the money, opponents said.

They also said Bay View is attracting developers, investors and events, and doesn’t need the business improvement district.

“Bay View is thriving,” said Dave Brazeau, who owns a commercial property at 3128-3130 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.

The BID has improved Bay View, said supporters, including Lee Barczak, district board president. His properties include the Avalon Theater and the neighboring Mistral restaurant, 2473 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.

That includes adding planters, flower baskets, trees and murals to beautify Kinnickinnic Avenue.

The district also maintains the Art Stop bus shelter, he said, and is working on a marketing and branding campaign for Bay View businesses.

“I really feel it would be a tremendous mistake to terminate this BID,” Barczak said.

Milwaukee has 32 business improvement districts and six neighborhood improvement districts — more per capita than any other U.S. city, according to a 2017 Public Policy Forum study. Neighborhood improvement districts are financed with surcharges on residential and commercial properties.

The lack of performance data greatly restricts the ability to measure the effectiveness of Milwaukee’s districts, that study said.

Forced termination proceedings are rare. This apparently marks the first time a Milwaukee business improvement district has faced such a petition, according to Department of City Development officials.

However, the Walker’s Point Neighborhood Improvement District was recently terminated after a petition was filed with the city.