Changes On The Way For Palm Springs Business Improvement

PALM DESERT -The Palm Springs City Council will consider tonight whether to approve a proposed restructuring of the city’s Business Improvement District.

Council members will consider whether to change the way the city collects the assessment fees that fund the district, which includes uptown and downtown businesses.

Under the restructuring, businesses would be charged based on an equation that takes into account the property location and the annual business license fee. Ground floor businesses will be billed twice the annual business license fee, while other floor levels will only be charged 1.5 times the fee, according to a city staff report.

The district uses the money to try to bring more customers to uptown and downtown businesses through advertising, branding and marketing.

The council will also consider whether it should make a $50,000 contribution to the district for the first year of its restructuring, according to the report. That money would come from funding through the Economic Recovery Plan.

Last fall, the council made collecting the fees voluntary after receiving input from businesses.