Several hundred downtown Fresno property owners are being asked whether to start taxing themselves to pay for services ranging from marketing to graffiti removal.
It started Thursday with a meeting to launch a petition drive that may lead to a vote of property owners within the proposed Property-Based Improvement District -- roughly bounded by H, Q, Ventura and Tuolumne streets, plus both sides of Van Ness Avenue as far north as Divisadero Street.
Within that area, property owners would pay assessments based on their location, lot sizes and building sizes, raising almost $750,000 in the district's first year. An owners association would decide how to spend the money.
City leaders implored the three dozen or so people in attendance to keep an open mind and approve the proposed district at least for a trial run.
"Give it a chance," Mayor Ashley Swearengin said. "It's a five-year initiative, and the property owners have the say-so whether to renew."
The group also heard from representatives of similar districts in Sacramento and Visalia who bragged about their success.
"We had 70% support from our property owners in 1996 when we initially created the district. About three years ago, we renewed the district and had 90% support," said Michael Ault, executive director of the Downtown Sacramento Partnership.
Downtown Visalia property owner William Martin said that city's district was a major reason he has put his money there.
"We looked at Fresno," he said. "We had no interest in Fresno. ... The bottom line is we will not invest in a community that does not have a PBID."
To move forward, the idea requires petition signatures from property owners representing more than half of the fees that would be paid to the district.
If it clears that hurdle, then a vote would be held, with the same threshold for success. Plans call for the district to start in 2011 if approved.
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