STURGIS, S.D. – The city of Sturgis has passed final reading of an ordinance that will make some changes to the downtown Business Improvement District ordinance.
The Downtown Business Improvement District was formed in 2013 to come up with ways to enhance and grow the downtown corridor.
Council members are passing on an increase to the per linear foot annual fee that businesses pay. The updated ordinance will raise the current $2-dollar per linear foot to $6-dollars.
The revision will also remove the $600 annual fee per parcel cap. The low cap was initially set to get the initiative to pass.
Sturgis City Manager Daniel Ainslie says they use a third of the funds raised for marketing efforts and in addition, they use a third of the funds for various additional events and another third goes to capital improvements downtown, like Christmas decorations.
Ainslie says businesses that are open year-round in the downtown corridor can work with the Sturgis Economic Development Corporation to get a 40-percent rebate.
Ainslie says with the changes, they are hoping to raise $60,000 annually.
In addition, there will be a 40-percent rebate for those businesses downtown that are open year-round.
Residential and non-profit properties are exempt from this ordinance.
