Downtown property owners to vote on whether or not to keep downtown tidy

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...s-due-april-15

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The Downtown Detroit Partnership brought the issue to ballot, and the Department of Elections is administering the election. [...]

Specifically, the 253 property owners in the downtown district are voting to tax themselves at a rate of approximately $4 million annually. That money would be used to collect the garbage, sweep the sidewalks, put safety ambassadors on the streets and generally keep downtown looking neat and tidy.
Currently, those efforts are funded -- voluntarily -- by local businesses, property owners and foundations. Since 2006 they have contributed more than $16.5 million for the Clean Downtown program. But that money was scheduled to dry up this year, so the DDP and other business owners, such as Compuware Corp., Rock Ventures LLC and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, wanted to create a permanent revenue stream for the beautification efforts.

The zone's proposed boundaries would lie roughly between the freeways — I-75 to the north; I-375 to the east; M-10 to the west — and the Detroit River.

Most property owners will be eligible to vote, and the outcome is binding on everyone. Owner-occupied residential buildings are excluded from the vote, as are nontaxable properties, such as those owned by nonprofit groups and the government. Large apartment buildings, however, are included.

Votes will be based on a weighted formula that takes into consideration floor space [[60 percent) and assessed value of the property [[40 percent), said Eric Wilson, planning and development manager for the DDP.

For the BIZ to pass, the business improvement zone needs 60 percent of the weighted average of property owners to vote in favor.

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Clean Downtown is cool and all, but what I find intriguing is the voting math. Assessed value is public record, and square footage for major buildings is usually easy enough to find. So, how close to a majority is the weighted vote of Gilbert-owned properties?

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Originally Posted by gvidas

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...s-due-april-15



Clean Downtown is cool and all, but what I find intriguing is the voting math. Assessed value is public record, and square footage for major buildings is usually easy enough to find. So, how close to a majority is the weighted vote of Gilbert-owned properties?

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I know recently that GM was still the majority land-owner of the district, the RenCen being more square footage than all of Gilbert's buildings combined.