Downtown BID Commissioners Elected

Downtown Hartford’s Business Improvement District (BID) took another step forward Tuesday night when members of the group elected its 18 commissioners.

November 22 - 29, 2006
By The Hartford News Staff

A BID is formed by the property owners of a specific geographic area (in this case Downtown and a part of the Asylum Hill neighborhood) who pay taxes into the BID. In return, the BID provides enhanced services including improved safety, sanitation, special events and marketing.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Mayor Eddie Perez said the BID will ensure, “that the first impression people have of our city is a positive one.”

The commissioners elected Tuesday night include: Bert Kaplowitz (Northland Invest¬ment Corp.); Michael Algiere (CityPlace); Hank Hoffman (The Hartford); Mike Marshall (Aetna); Thomas Luszczak (St. Paul Travelers); David Jakubowski (State House Square/Harbor Group Management); Michael Grunberg (Grunberg Realty, representing 777 Main St. and 280 Trumbull St.); Terry Bickhardt (Waterford Group); Jerry Hayes (The Phoenix); David Cocola (100 Pearl Street); Elizabeth Judd (Konover Investments); Todd Lavigne (312 Farming¬ton Avenue); Mike Kuziak (LAZ Parking); Ron Morneault (Tuesdays Cloth¬ing); Holly DeYoung (Tai Soo Kim Architects); Brooke Baran (CT Culinary Institute) and Jim Lewis (Harvey & Lewis Opti¬cians). The Commission will also include representatives from the Mayor’s office, City Council, the Metro¬Hartford Alliance, the Greater Hartford Arts Council and Business for Downtown Hartford.

The Commission must meet within the next 20 days, although the specific time and date of the meeting has yet to be determined. The group must agree on a set of bylaws and a budget within 60 days of their first meeting.

Payments into the BID are based on property values. Of the 113 property owners within the Downtown BID, 20 own 90 percent of the property in the district. The five largest property owners will pay an average fee of $70,880 annually while the 50 smallest will pay an average of $232 each year.

According to literature handed out at Tuesday’s meeting, some of the BID’s plans include increasing the service of Hospitality Foot Patrols from 40 hours a week to 320 hours a week; the Hospitality Van from 65 hours a week to 105; Litter Patrols from 120 hours per week to 280 hours a week and street vacuuming from 30 hours weekly to 50 hours.