Getting community improvement districts (CIDs) through the Senate was the easy part.
Now, supporters of the special districts are tasked with selling CIDs to their neighbors.
CID legislation was signed by the governor last week. Under the measure, homeowner groups can form special districts, tax the property owners within it and use the tax dollars to pay for public improvements, like beautification or pothole repair.
Leaders across the Northside have pushed the measure for years. With the bill finally being signed into law, leaders are shifting their focus to drumming up the community support needed to make the districts a reality.
For the Greater Belhaven Foundation (GBF), that means gauging community support and answering questions residents might have about the concept.
To that end, a town hall has been scheduled for Tuesday, May 14, at the Rickhouse. The two-hour meeting will begin at 6 p.m. and is open to the public, said GBF Executive Director Casey Creasey.
“We will explain what CIDs can do for the neighborhood and what is required for getting one going,” she said. “We want our neighbors to be well informed.”
The LeFleur East Foundation also is interested in establishing a district but had yet to finalize its strategy on moving forward.
“The hardest part of applying for LeFleur East will be getting 60 percent of the signatures,” said LeFleur East Executive Director Stacey Jordan. “We want to make sure we hear everyone.”
To be considered for a CID, legislation requires that 60 percent of home and property owners in an affected area sign a petition in support.
For LeFleur East and Greater Belhaven, getting those signatures will be a tall order.
LeFleur East runs from Old Canton Road in the north to the LeFleur Museum District in the south. East to west, it stretches from the Pearl River to I-55 North. The area includes approximately 300 businesses and 2,600 homes in 22 neighborhoods.
Greater Belhaven includes two neighborhoods, Belhaven and Belhaven Heights, and about 2,000 rooftops, Creasey said.
“Hopefully it won’t be difficult, but you can never predict what people are going to do,” Creasey said.
HB 1612 was approved by lawmakers during the 2019 session. Gov. Phil Bryant signed the bill last week at a ceremony at the State Capitol. The law takes effect July 1.
The measure spells out the steps that groups must take to have CIDs established.
Among them, applicants have to determine the CID’s boundaries and the needs for the area, and then submit a petition to the city showing interest.
Sixty percent of property owners in a proposed area would have to sign on in support before an application can be considered. From there, applicants have to submit a master plan outlining how CID funds would be spent, as well as documentation showing the district’s boundaries.
The city would determine the appropriate tax to carry implement the master plan. From there, the proposal would be taken back to residents for a vote. To pass, 60 percent of home and property owners in the proposed area would again have to sign on.
Hillman said spending proposals would likely be managed by the office for planning and reviewed by officials from public works, the planning department and the fire and police departments.
The city would also oversee the implementation of the plan once it’s approved, she explained.
Creasey envisions one CID encompassing all of Greater Belhaven. Jordan said the boundaries for the LeFleur East district had not been determined.
Projects eligible for funding include park construction and beautification, street resurfacing, hiring of private security, buying and rehabilitating dilapidated property, adding new plantings to public spaces and the like.
The tax would be in place long enough to implement the improvements and could not exceed six mills. For homes valued at $300,000, a six-mill increase would equate to $180 a year in new property taxes.
Revenues collected from the tax would have to go to a neighborhood nonprofit, and the nonprofit would have to complete an annual audit, said Jordan Hillman, Jackson’s deputy director of planning.
Groups hoping to extend the assessment beyond that would again have to complete the application process.
The measure only applies to neighborhoods in the city of Jackson.
Neither Jordan nor Creasey believe creating a master plan will be difficult.
“Our big needs are security, beautification, infrastructure and that’s on both sides of Fortification,” Creasey said. “Security is going to be really high on the totem pole.”
Jordan said the desire to increase property values and maintain quality of life will likely unify people in LeFleur East behind a common plan. “We’re all in this together,” she said. “We all want our property values to increase.”
