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Dillsboro leaders question MSDs
By Emily Elders
Dillsboro officials invited the manager of an area town’s revitalization organization to their Monday (Nov. 13) meeting to discuss the implementation of a possible municipal service district for Dillsboro with affected property and business owners.
Ron Huelster, executive director of the Downtown Waynesville Association, spoke to the board and assembled business and property owners about the process his town went through in establishing their organization, after such a tax district was created in Waynesville.
Dillsboro leaders, joined by its merchants’ association, have been considering implementing an MSD, which would apply an additional tax to property owners within the district in exchange for providing services such as advertising, promotions and event planning for their downtown district.
Huelster spoke about Waynesville’s decision to implement the district, why they asked for an initial 30-cent tax, and some of the benefits and issues they have seen from the program. Waynesville’s downtown is part of both the National and N.C. Main Street programs, he said, and the association works to follow those guidelines and to advertise and plan events for the district.
Mayor Jean Hartbarger explained the reason Dillsboro is considering an MSD, an option the Downtown Sylva Association is also actively pursuing.
“We’re trying to define ourselves as a tourist town,” she said.
Questions for Huelster included concerns about the reaction of business and property owners to the proposal, the use of the tax funds to hire a director, and the structure of the Waynesville organization.
Huestler said there had been some concern from business owners who rented their property that the cost of the program was going to be passed on to them, but that it was an unavoidable issue.
“It’s the landlord’s decision whether or not to pass that on,” he said. “All we could do was explain the benefits of the program to both of those people (the merchant and the landowner) and hope they saw the wisdom of that decision.”
Huestler clarified that funds raised by the tax are used to fund the organization itself, including a salary for the director if the members so choose, but that additional marketing fees are also applied. For example, he cited Waynesville’s annual brochure, which maps the businesses inside and outside the district and is distributed throughout the region. Prominent publication in this brochure requires a fee of $200, which doesn’t include pre-event advertising. Marketing for the four events Waynesville puts on each year costs their merchants an additional $200 fee.
Dillsboro’s representatives were curious about the director’s role, the district itself and the organization’s layout.
Regarding his role as director, Huestler clarified that he oversaw day-to-day tasks as well as the organization of larger events, and that he is assisted by a part-time promotions manager as well.
Huestler said the Dillsboro Merchants Association has most of the foundation in place if the organization proceeds with plans for an MSD.
“You’ve got a (501c-3 non-profit) corporation established, you’ve got a merchants association, you’re already doing advertising and putting on events,” he said. “You’re miles ahead of where most towns are at this time.”
He clarified that when the Waynesville organization was created, it took in the existing merchants’ association, and that the money raised through taxes funds projects as well as his salary as executive director. The organization is held accountable by yearly audits, and the Main Street program requires a three-year budget before plan approval, he said.
Huestler also said the first step towards Waynesville’s MSD was the creation of a steering committee, which included representatives from the town board, the merchants’ group as well as residents, business owners and property owners. It was this committee that laid the foundation and eventually took the MSD proposal before the town board.
“It takes work,” Huestler said. “Don’t undertake something like this lightly. A public-private partnership is the only way to begin revitalization, and you have to work together.”
Dillsboro board members agreed to let the town’s merchants’ association discuss the MSD proposal and make a recommendation before any board action is taken. Board members also agreed that surveys of affected property owners need to be completed before a decision on an MSD is reached.
– In other business Nov. 13:
– A public hearing was held prior to Huestler’s presentation. Southwestern Commission’s Vicki Greene presented information on the status of the Community Block Development Grant Dillsboro is reapplying for this year.
The grant, which Dillsboro did not receive last year, is now being expanded in accordance with CBDG standards, which have moved beyond infrastructure and housing projects to include revitalization as well.
According to town Clerk Herb Nolan, Dillsboro’s grant application will include a request for more money and an expanded revitalization plan, which includes the goals of providing more affordable housing, drawing younger people to the town, and building a planned Greenway park between Sylva and Dillsboro.
Board members appointed David Gates as the citizen representative on the required CDBG committee, which will oversee the goals and cost figures of the project.
– Per a recent multi-jurisdictional meeting with county and town governments, Hartbarger announced that John Faulk had been appointed to a proposed task force to revitalize Jackson County’s Economic Development Commission. The meeting was held Nov. 21.
– Dillsboro’s next meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 4, at the town hall.
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