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Downtown District Up For Vote

By Jeffrey B. Cohen

May 27, 2009

It's that time again.

Three years after the initial approval of the city's downtown Business Improvement District, it's time to vote on whether to keep it.

The BID is what's called a "special services district," in which property owners agree to tax themselves more -- in this case, 1 mill -- for additional services from security to street cleaning to marketing. Next month, property owners in the district will get ballots and will vote on whether to renew for another five years.

To pass, the vote needs a double majority -- a majority of the 255 property owners must approve it, and the yes-voting property owners must own at least half of the total property value in the district. If the vote fails, the district would cease to exist after November.

Ballots should go out in June. For more, check out the district's website and its blog post about it. http://hartfordbidness.blogspot.com/2009/05/hartford-city-council-passes-amended.html