Rasor: Votes in to disband BID

SANDPOINT — The years-long battle over Sandpoint’s Business Improvement District is heating up once again, and one local businessman says he now has the signatures required to disband the district.

The BID was established in 2000 to promote activities and events inside the district, as well as general beautification and parking improvements throughout the downtown core.

The city is charged with collecting funds for the BID, but the Downtown Sandpoint Business Association manages the physical operation and makes financial and administrative decisions. The district collects anywhere from $10-$65 per month from each business, depending on square footage, according to DSBA figures.

Since its inception, a group of vocal business owners, led by Army Surplus owner and Bonner County Commissioner Cornel Rasor, have fought to disband the district. According to Idaho Code, the BID can be disbanded if the businesses in the district which pay a majority of the assessments agree to do so.

Rasor, who says his involvement with the BID has nothing to do with his duties as a county commissioner, began circulating a petition in 2001 aimed at doing away with the district. The petition now has signatures representing 57 percent of the district’s assessed footage and Rasor says the BID’s days are numbered.

“Unless there’s some arcane, strange thing that only a secret few who know the handshake know about, it’s pretty straightforward,” Rasor said. “They got 51 percent of the signatures, they had a public hearing and they opened the BID. We’ve got 51 percent of the signatures against it now, so, theoretically, the same thing should happen.”

Kathleen Hyde, who manages the DSBA, reviewed the petition and said there are as many as 150 signatures that should be withdrawn, including her own.

Hyde, who owned First Avenue’s Beareweare Graphics, signed the petition in 2003 before she became involved with the DSBA. She says her signature, as well as those of five current or former DSBA board members — who also signed before becoming involved with the organization — should not be counted.

Hyde said a number of business owners who now support the BID are drafting letters to the city asking to have their names withdrawn from the petition.

According to Hyde, opposition to the BID can be blamed on a simple lack of understanding. She believes if BID opponents knew how much work the DSBA does on their behalf, they would support the organization.

“They don’t participate in anything we do,” she said. “They don’t go to events, they don’t do any volunteer work, so I don’t think they have a true understanding of what the organization does.”

Rasor, who calls the BID “corporate welfare,” said it is not a lack of understanding that keeps himself and others from supporting the district, but an ideological difference of opinions.

“People are just sick and tired of paying for something and seeing absolutely no value for it,” he said.

The city is reviewing the petition and, as of Monday, has not ruled on the matter.