Corning Municipal Code Ch. 3.50 Corning Business Improvement District

The recitals of the ordinance codified in this chapter, which set forth facts regarding the adoption of council resolutions, the conduct of public hearings and certain findings of the city council, are true and correct and incorporated herein by reference.

(Ord. 581 §1 (1.0), 1998).

In order to distinguish between District businesses and for the purpose of calculating and applying the amount of assessments owed, the following definitions shall apply:

A. "Retail businesses" include all businesses not covered by other definitions set out in this section, at least fifty percent of whose gross income is derived from "retail sales" as that term is defined under the California Sales and Use Tax Law. The fact that a substantial part of its business consists of sales other than retail sales does not exclude said business from this classification so long as such other business component does not account for more than fifty percent of said business' gross income.

B. "Restaurant" businesses include cafes, eating establishments, sandwich shops, dinner houses, restaurants and fast food services and other similar businesses.

C. "Lodging" businesses include inns, hotels, motels, RV parks and other similar businesses.

D. "Service" businesses include general office, news and advertising media, printers, photographers, personal care facilities and outlets, entertainment uses, service stations, repairing and servicing businesses, renting and leasing businesses, utilities, vending machine businesses, household finance companies, and other similar businesses not otherwise included in categories (types 1, 2, and 4 hereof definitions) a, b, c, e, or f of this section.

E. "Professional" businesses includes attorneys, architects , accountants , engineers , surveyors , physicians, dentists, optometrists, chiropractors and others in a medical/health service field, consultants, real estate brokers, financial advisors, laboratories (including dental and optical), hearing aid services, artists and designers.

F. "Financial" businesses include banks, savings and loans, credit unions, etc.

G. "Fiscal year" means July 1st to and including June 30th of the following year.

H. "Billing period" refers to the calendar year beginning January 1st and ending December 31st of that same year.

(Ord. 581 §1(2.0), 1998).

A parking and business improvement district is established pursuant to the Parking and Business Improvement Area Law of 1989, Streets and Highways Code Sections 36500 et seq. There shall be one benefit zone within the district. The boundaries of the district and the benefit zone within the district shall coincide with the city limits. This district shall be known as the "Corning business improvement district" (the "district").

(Ord. 581 §1(3.0), 1998).

There shall be a board of directors ("board") of the district appointed by the city council to administer the affairs of the district. This board shall be constituted of businesses within the district. There shall be eleven members of the board who shall serve four year terms; the initial appointments shall be six board members appointed for four year terms and five members appointed for two year terms. The city council shall make appointments to the board only from district members who have been chosen by election of the members. Within the board there shall be a president, vice-president, secretary and treasurer elected by the membership, and such other officers as deemed necessary by the board. Such other officers shall be appointed by the board of directors at their discretion. All voting within the district regarding election of board members and any actions regarding the normal and routine conducting of district business shall be based on one vote per assessed dollar, and each business must be current in payment of its district assessment(s) to participate in voting.

(Ord. 581 §1(4.0), 1998).

All businesses, trades, and professions located within the district boundaries shown on Exhibit "A" of the ordinance codified in this chapter shall, commencing January 7, 1999, pay an annual benefit assessment to the district in the following amounts:

(Ord. 581 §1(5.0), 1998).

Footnotes:

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Note: retail and restaurant businesses will be charged according to size which will be determined by number of employees, either full-time or the equivalent made up of multiples of part-time employees. One full-time equivalent employee equals two thousand hours worked per year.

The types of improvements and activities proposed to be funded by the levy of assessments on businesses in the district are as follows:

A. The acquisition, construction, installation, or maintenance of any tangible property with an estimated useful life of five years or more (* [7]) including, but not limited to, the following improvements:

1. Benches;

2. Trash receptacles;

3. Decorations;

4. Facade improvements;

5. Permanent landscaping.

B. Activities including but not limited to the following:

1. Promotion of public events which benefit businesses in the area and which take place on or in public places within the area;

2. Furnishing of music in any public place in the area;

3. Activities which benefit businesses located and operating in the area, including but not limited to commercial shopping and promotional programs.

(Ord. 581 §1 (6.0), 1998).

Footnotes:

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** "Useful life of five years or more..." is not to be construed as allowing the district to obligate itself with debts or financial obligations exceeding the year-to-year approval term as required by the Act. It is intended and agreed that the district will not be a party to financial obligations exceeding the fiscal year in which they were approved by the advisory board.

No person or business shall be required to pay an assessment based on: (a) a residential use of the property within the district, or (b) a nonprofit organization as defined by Section 501 (C) (6) of the Internal Revenue Service Code located within the district, or (c) a home occupancy business, as defined in the Corning Municipal Code.

(Ord. 581 §1(7.0), 1998).

Any new business established within the district shall not be required to pay an assessment for the billing period during which said business is initiated. The business will have been considered initiated on the date of issuance of the business license. This waiver shall not apply to an existing business that has changed ownership or location within the district. City agrees to supply the district with timely information regarding new businesses initiated within the district.

(Ord. 581 §1(8.0), 1998).

The benefit assessment authorized by this chapter for Corning businesses (Section 3.50.050 of this chapter), shall be billed and collected once each calendar year on January 1. City will bill and collect the assessments, at no charge to the district and forward all funds collected to the district within thirty days of said collections.

(Ord. 581 §1(9.0), 1998).

Contributions to the district shall be permitted on a voluntary basis. The boundary of the district shall not be modified as a result of any contributions, nor shall said contributing businesses be considered members of the district for voting or other purposes. However, said businesses making voluntary contributions may be entitled to participate in the programs of the district upon a finding by the board of directors that the district derives a benefit from said businesses' participation in the program.

(Ord. 581 §1(10.0), 1998).

A. The board of directors of the district shall prepare, on or before November 1st, a report for each fiscal year for which assessments are to be levied and collected to pay the costs of the improvements and activities described in the report. The board shall file the report with the city clerk and shall specify the name of the district, the fiscal year to which the report applies, and, with respect to that fiscal year, shall contain all of the following:

1. The improvements and activities to be provided for that fiscal year;

2. An estimate of the cost of providing the improvements and the activities for that fiscal year;

3. The method and basis of levying the assessment in sufficient detail to allow each business owner to estimate the amount of the assessment to be levied against his or her business for that fiscal year;

4. The amount of any surplus or deficit revenues to be carried over from a previous fiscal year;

5. The amount of any contributions anticipated to be made from sources other than assessments levied pursuant to this part.

B. The board's report may propose changes, including, but not limited to, the boundaries of the district or any benefit zones within the district, the basis and method of levying the assessments, and any changes in the classification of businesses. If such changes are proposed in the report, the report shall also include a detailed description of any such proposed changes.

C. After the filing of the report, the city council shall adopt a resolution of intention to levy an annual assessment for that fiscal year, and shall comply with the Act in preparing the resolution, setting the matter for a public hearing on the levy of the proposed assessment for that fiscal year, publishing notice of the public hearing and conducting the public hearings.

D. At the conclusion of the public hearing, the city council may approve the report as filed by the board, or modify any particular contained in the report and approve it as modified. The city council shall not modify any particulars of the report unless the city receives written protests, as to the particulars of the report, from the owners of the businesses within the district which will pay fifty percent or more of the assessments to be paid in that fiscal year, the city council shall eliminate or modify the particular in the report as provided in the Act. The city council shall not approve a change in the basis and method of levying assessments that would impair an authorized or executed contract to be paid from the revenues derived from the levy of assessments . The city council shall not change the boundaries of the district to include any territory that will not, in its judgment, benefit by the improvements or activities contained in the report.

E. At the conclusion of the public hearing, the city council may adopt a resolution confirming the report as originally filed, or as modified by the city council. The adoption of the resolution shall constitute a levy of an assessment for the fiscal year referred to in the report.

(Ord. 581 §1(11.0), 1998).

Decisions of the district board of directors regarding expenditure of all funds generated under this program shall be final.

(Ord. 581 §1(12.0), 1998).

City specifically finds and declares that the funds derived from the district shall not be used to offset or diminish current maintenance, capital improvement programs, including but not limited to, street cleaning and maintenance, tree maintenance, as was provided before the district was formed.

(Ord. 581 §1(13.0), 1998).

Proceedings to disestablish the district shall be initiated by the city council following the presentation of a petition to the city council signed by business owners paying fifty percent or more of the assessments levied in the district. Proceedings to disestablish the district shall follow the procedures set forth in Streets and Highways Code Section 36550. The city council shall disestablish the district if, following the public hearing prescribed in Section 36550(b), written protests are not withdrawn as to reduce the protests below the fifty percent level. In the event of disestablishment of the district, remaining revenues of the district shall be refunded to paying business owners in a pro-rata manner calculated in the same manner as was used to establish the most recent assessments applied in the district.

(Ord. 581 §1(14.0), 1998).