The city council listened to public comments in late October, and will hold one more public meeting on November 14th.
Mayor Mike Thoms says the SSA would be supported by a tax on downtown building owners.
“It is a geographic area that those building owners- not business owners, but building owners are accessed an additional tax amount. And those monies then are used for specific reasons, but they’re governed by the building owners themselves.”
Thoms says if the SSA ordinance passes, then it could help not only revitalize downtown Rock Island, but also maintain it.
“Big picture is: new streetlights, new sidewalks, trees. And then they would look at hiring the ambassadors, individuals that would be walking throughout this area, and giving assistant to people.”
The SSA would create a public-private partnership opportunity for the business owners to be a part of the process both financially and with decision-making.
He says the other Quad Cities have had success with the SSA’s, Moline has five, and Davenport has had one for around 40 years.
At the public meeting on October 24th, comments were mixed with worries about the establishment of a Special Service Area, including the tax rate, and who will manage it. Supporters say it would provide millions of dollars to maintain and improve the SSA.
