The city of Seattle’s Community Economic Development Committee is evaluating a proposal to form a 15th Avenue East Business Improvement Area (BIA) with taxing authority to fund street cleaning, graffiti removal, and neighborhood beautification initiatives.
With tax money collected directly from local property owners, a BIA pays for ongoing improvements in a neighborhood. Local stakeholders oversee and fund the maintenance, improvement, and promotion of their commercial district, according to the city’s website.
The city currently has 10 BIAs:
- Ballard Improvement Area
- Broadway Business Improvement Area
- Chinatown-International District Business Improvement Area
- Columbia City Business Improvement Area
- Metropolitan Improvement District
- Pioneer Square Business Improvement Area
- Seattle Tourism Improvement Area
- SODO Business Improvement Area
- U District Business Improvement Area
- West Seattle Junction Business Improvement Area
The boundaries of the 15th Avenue East district would be between East Denny Way and East Mercer.
The Community Economic Development Committee is holding a public hearing on the BIA proposal at 2 p.m. on Sept. 8. If you would like to tell the City Council what you think about the proposed 15th Avenue BIA, you can sign up to testify at the public hearing here beginning at noon on Sept. 8 (two hours before the public hearing begins). You can also email council members at council@seattle.gov.
If all hurdles are cleared the business improvement area could begin collecting taxes in 2022 to raise $116,839 that year alone.
The process for the creation of the new taxing district also requires petitions from property owners in support of the proposal representing at least 60% of the total dollar amount that would be collected for the BIA.
To learn more about the city’s BIAs, click here