Not a slam dunk for downtown organization

Leaders of the Downtown Penticton Business Improvement Area must work to “gain the trust and respect” of a sizable number of members who petitioned against the service, says a city councillor.

At a special meeting Tuesday, council received the results of a reverse-petition process initiated to renew for another five years the mandatory levy on downtown properties that funds the DPBIA.

According to a staff report, the city received 61 petitions representing $44.9 million in property value. But that fell far short of the threshold for blocking the levy, which would have required the city getting petitions from owners of 50% of 313 parcels in the downtown area that represent 50% of total assessed value of $278 million.

With the results in hand, council voted 5-0 to move forward with the DPBIA’s new levy amounts. (Mayor John Vassilaki recused himself due to his family’s downtown property holdings and Coun. Campbell Watt was absent.) Levies are now set to climb by about 3.5%, while the annual cap on high-value properties like banks will rise from $2,888 to $12,000.

“I hope the (DPBIA) takes this vote and recognizes that about 20% of the businesses were against this proposal and it’s up to the (DPBIA) to make sure they gain the trust and respect of the 20% that voted against it,” said Coun. Julius Bloomfield, a former president of the group’s board.

Lynn Allin, the DPBIA’s executive director, said in an email after the meeting her group isn’t privy to the list of property owners that submitted petitions and offered an alternative view that the other 80% of members are satisfied with the service.

“All of us at the DPBIA are thrilled that the bylaw was approved, and we have another five years to work with our amazing businesses,” said Allin.

The city collects the levy on behalf of the DPBIA at tax time. Total revenue averaged $239,000 in each of the past two years and must be spent on activities that generally promote the downtown core and members.

In other business Tuesday, council updated the city’s list of bank signing officers and adopted the 2022 tax rates, which feature a business tax multiplier of 2.14 that should help spread a 5.7% tax increase evenly among residential and business properties.

Coun. Frank Regehr said property owners whose assessments increased significantly more than others in their class could be in for a shock at tax time, and noted the availability of a property tax deferral program offered by the B.C. government.