Downtown Property and Business Owners and CM Lewis,
I am writing to you because it’s crunch time for the Metropolitan Improvement District (MID) BIA.  We all want Downtown Seattle to be clean and safe.   Now is the time for our City Council, the MID Ratepayer Advisory Board and the MID Program Manager (DSA) to truly re-imagine the program as has been promised.  
YOUR ACTION now will impact the next decade of assessments.  Critical nuances of BIA implementation since 2013, driven largely by myriad assessment ceilings, have resulted in $10,000,000+ lower assessments.  Assessment ceilings simultaneously create unequal and inequitable discrepancies between similarly situated Ratepayers (+- $15,000/year or more).  You and your fellow property and business owners are already paying for this revenue shortfall and you will pay even more in the future.
Please register to attend the next MID Ratepayer Advisory Board meeting on Tuesday, September 27 @ 8am.  You need only stay for a few minutes to make a public comment.  Points to consider:

ASSESSMENT CEILINGS

  • 85% of condominiums and co-ops are assessed the Residential ceiling
    • Base and SqFt ceilings reduced assessments by $54,000/year
  • Only 45% of luxury and market-rate apartments are assessed the Residential ceiling
    • Base and SqFt ceilings reduce assessments by $700,000+/year
  • 61% OF hotels are assessed the Hotel ceiling
    • Base and SqFt ceilings reduce assessments by $68,000+/year
    • A hotel with 232 rooms has paid less than $5,000 in assessments since 2013
  • Raising the Residential Ceiling will disproportionately impact condominiums:  65% of luxury and market rate apartments will pay even less relative to the increase.
  • Raising the Hotel Ceiling will only impact 61% of hotels.  Shouldn’t all hotels pay the same ceiling rate?

PARCELS MATTER

  • Condominiums: residential (nonprofit) and commercial (for profit hotel, office, retail spaces, etc.) parcels are assessed as separate Ratepayers, generating more revenue for the BIA
  • Apartments: residential (for profit and nonprofit) and commercial (for profit hotel, office, retail spaces, etc.) parcels are often assessed as a single Ratepayer, reducing revenue to the BIA.
    • Single Ratepayer combinations in apartment and hotel properties reduce assessments by as much as $14,000 per Ratepayer per year.

Learn more by visiting www.BIAFacts.com and please feel free to contact me anytime.

Regards,Steve Horvath808-457-7828