Push is on for business improvement district in Uptown Butte (2024)

A new push for establishing a business improvement district in Uptown Butte is underway and it’s seemingly far more organized and focused than any previous effort in at least the past decade.

Advocates plan four informational meetings next week, door-to-door visits will follow, petition signatures will be sought in July, and if enough property owners agree to a business district, authorization would be sought from the Council of Commissioners — perhaps in August.

Organizers are using $50,000 in grants and contributions to fund their push and have hired a consultant — Missoula-based Cascadia Management Group — to assist.

Shanna Adams, co-owner of the Hotel Finlen and a district advocate, detailed the push for commissioners on Wednesday night and talked about enhancements it could fund in hopes of drawing more Uptown visitors and patrons.

Several Montana cities have a business improvement district, or BID, where owners essentially tax themselves and spend the money on maintenance, security, promotions, landscaping or other improvements in a specified area.

It can be used for crosswalks and streetscaping, pressure washing sidewalks, additional snow removal, paying for extra security, marketing and promotional efforts and numerous other things.

The proposed BID here would cover about 30 blocks in the central business district of Uptown Butte. Owners of more than 60% of the property area must support a district for one to be established.

There are 170 people who own 247 distinct parcels of business property in the proposed district — residences are not included — so getting OKs from owners of more than 60% of those parcels would be enough.

All of Montana’s other larger cities — Billings, Missoula, Great Falls, Helena, Kalispell and Bozeman — have BIDs, said Tracy Worley, a senior consultant with Cascadia Management Group. Hamilton also has a BID.

A BID is among goals included in an Uptown Master Plan that the Council of Commissioners adopted in 2022.

“We’re going to have four meetings next week … and we’ll be doing a lot of outreach,” said Adams, who helped steer the master plan effort. “It’s the type of thing where we need to go door-to-door and we need to talk to everybody to explain what the goals are.”

If a BID is established, property owners would pay an assessment each year to fund improvements in the district. A board of business owners would oversee the district and make final spending decisions.

Under the current proposal, each owner would pay a flat $150 fee plus 0.03% of the property’s square footage plus 0.1% of the property’s taxable value. The formula would generate from $200,000 to $215,000 annually.

State law allows different methods and mixes of methods for BID assessments and they can differ from city to city.

“As I looked at the different models around the state, a multifaceted approach seems to be the most equitable,” Adams told commissioners. “If you’re just going to look at taxable value, maybe that’s not totally fair across the board.

“If you’re just looking at square footage, then you’re penalizing the bigger buildings,” she said. “We ran many, many scenarios and looked at what the assessments were.”

Adams said organizers have detailed information on the properties and can tell each owner what their assessment would be.

Worley said that under the proposal, the assessment model would be the same for 10 years. Changes could be made during a renewal process after that, she said, and the district could be expanded if there is support.

If enough signatures are gathered, commissioners would pass a “resolution of intent” to create a district and anyone subject to the assessment who opposed the plan could submit written protests for consideration.

Dave Palmer had hoped to gain momentum for a BID when he was chief executive from 2017 to 2020. He said past efforts failed because different groups of business owners didn’t come together.

There were concerns about who would be in charge, Palmer said in 2018, and “there is mistrust about what the outcome is going to be.”

He hoped a meeting in April 2018 would ultimately lead to a BID, and in a way, it planted the seeds for the current effort.

About 75 business owners gathered that night to talk about a “vision plan” for Uptown Butte and that led to creation of the Uptown Master Plan adopted in 2022. That plan recommended a BID and the current push is a follow-up to that.

Eric Mankins was among a few commissioners Wednesday night who thanked Adams and others for making the push. He said BID-funded enhancements would pay off and he made a direct appeal to Uptown business owners.

“We need you,” he said. "You will get this paid back in full once we have these developments. They (visitors and patrons) will come. This is a great vision.”

A group called Uptown Butte BID will hold four public gatherings this coming week to talk about a BID and what benefits it could fund. They will also field and answer any questions business owners or others have.

All will be held in the conference room at Action Inc., 24 W. Silver St.

Two meetings are set for Tuesday, one from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. and the other from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Two meetings are set for Wednesday, the first from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and the second from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.