Feds May Aid In Downtown Financing Gsa Chief Pledges To Help

The federal government might start contributing to downtown Spokane’s business improvement district.

The federal General Services Administration this week announced it’s ready to pay its share to improve downtowns across the country.

The GSA will do whatever is “legal and reasonable” to participate in what are known as business improvement districts (BIDs), acting administrator David J. Barram told the annual convention of the International Downtown Association in Dallas this week.

In Spokane, the BID goes under another acronym - PBIA. The Parking and Business Improvement Area was created in June 1995 by a unanimous City Council vote. Similar to BIDs nationwide, the PBIA raises money by taxing local businesses, organizations and properties. The money is slated to make downtown more accessible, attractive and safe.

The PBIA is managed by the Downtown Spokane Partnership.

The federal government’s actions are “an incredibly positive endorsement of the effectiveness of business improvement districts and public/private partnerships,” said Karen Valvano, president of the Downtown Spokane Partnership.

BIDs have become one of the most popular ways for cities to spruce up their downtowns.

In Spokane, security officers and clean-up crews have already begun patrolling an 80-block area downtown. The security and maintenance crews are paid for through a contribution by the city of Spokane. Contributions from businesses pay for such things as marketing campaigns, market research and downtown beautification.

If the GSA contributes money, it would be for security and maintenance, said Bill DuBray, executive director of the GSA in the Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Alaska region. A contract would need to be worked out between the GSA and the Downtown Spokane Partnership, he said.

“If we are invited to participate, we would serve on whatever advisory board they have and possibly participate in funding some aspect of it,” DuBray said.

Valvano is eager to begin talking with the GSA about participation.

“It warrants a very positive discussion with them about how we could work together,” Valvano said. “It certainly opens a door for that to happen.”

When there are government-owned properties within a district, Barram said, the “GSA will pay a fair price for security, maintenance and cleaning services that improve the attractiveness and safety of the district’s programs.”

There are two federal buildings within Spokane’s PBIA - the Federal Court House and the downtown Post Office.

The new policy is a change from the past. The GSA has told numerous cities it couldn’t take part in BIDs. The federal government doesn’t pay local taxes, and frequently these associations are structured as an addon to property taxes.

“The change is based on our fundamental belief that we believe center cities and downtowns, vibrant ones, are critical to America’s economic strength,” Barram said.

“There are a lot of cities where that’s going to make a big difference,” said Margaret Mullen, chairman of the International Downtown Association and executive director of the Downtown Phoenix Partnership.

In Phoenix, for example, the BID recently coordinated a street landscaping program, she said. Building owners paid for the work done in front of their buildings. But because the GSA wouldn’t pay, the city had to chip in for the landscaping in front of a federal building.

And in Roanoke, Va., the GSA recently exercised an option to buy a downtown building it had previously rented. That meant the BID lost $20,000 a year that had been paid by the landlord there, said Matt Kennell, executive director of Downtown Roanoke Inc.

“We really do want to partner with them, because they are a major employer - they’re the second-biggest employer downtown,” Kennell said.

“Several BIDs have asked us to be more active members of boards or pay into them, and we’ve had to say no,” Barram said. “What we’ve done is found a way to say yes when we’re asked.”

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Alison Boggs Staff writer The Washington Post contributed to this story.