Stores outside downtown core don't gain from BID

As a Sandpoint area business owner, I feel obligated to put my two cents worth into the debate about the Downtown Sandpoint Business Association. When the business improvement district was started, it was claimed it was not a tax. That came later as a result of so many business being reluctant to pay into an organization they were not asked to join but were forced to be a part of. The collection of the assessment is the city of Sandpoint’s job and they will quickly turn you over to a collection agency in Coeur d’Alene if you get behind. I own Murphy’s Repair, on the corner of Church and Sixth, which is not in downtown Sandpoint. According to the DSBA, which administers the BID,, the boundary lines of “downtown” extend to Sixth Avenue. This must be for taxing purposes only, for while my business is billed by the BID, it has never received any benefit from the BID. My business has yet to see any flower baskets, Christmas lights, benches or “green trash receptacles” that might adorn the downtown area. As a small and struggling business not within the benefiting area, I find it exceedingly unfair to be burdened by this tax. What exactly am I paying for? To my mind, I am ultimately paying for the $40,000-plus salary of the administrator of the BID and nothing else.

MARC PHILLIPS

Sandpoint