Restructuring downtown: business association being overhauled to be more relevant.

AuthorKelly, Lindsay
PositionSAULT STE. MARIE

The Queenstown Business Improvement Area (BIA) is implementing changes members anticipate will result in a more streamlined process for governing downtown activity.

Formed in 1973, the BIA's boundary incorporates a six-block radius that covers about half of Queen Street. In early October, the city appointed an interim board to sit down and re-examine the BIA's policies and procedures, and a permanent board will be elected later this fall.

The development comes after two years of strife, in which a group of dissenting members launched a process under the Municipal Act to have the BIA disbanded.

Dom Ruscio, a BIA member who owns the Days Inn, said he started asking the board two years ago for accountability in a number of areas, including the BIA's mandate, budget, membership list, and levy. But Ruscio said he was rebuffed and took the repeal route as a last resort.

"We brought these questions and concerns to the association and the chair, and the board basically told us to go away: 'Everything is fine. Everything is great. How dare we ask these questions,"' he said.

As one of the largest landholders in the BIA, he pays one of the highest levies, but said he hasn't seen value from the organization for years. He argues the boundary should be expanded, which would bring in more members and include the entire downtown.

Ruscio also wants a more equitable distribution of the levy. Landowners included in the BIA are mandated to pay a levy in addition to their municipal taxes.

He estimates 20 per cent of BIA members are paying 90 per cent of the levy. But many, like him, who have commercial properties, don't derive any benefit from the BIA-hosted events, which draw people downtown.

"So here we are paying our taxes and being mandated to pay additional taxes," Ruscio said. "Does no one see a problem with this?"

Ruscio said he doesn't mind contributing to the levy, but wants to see a restructured BIA, which would include a larger area, more accountability, and a levy structure that recognizes retail versus commercial properties.

Duane Moleni, who was hired as the BIA's...

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