The future of an Osceola County downtown is now uncertain.
Reed City will not renew its Downtown Development Authority.
The DDA in Reed City’s ordinance is up this coming December.
The city is not planning to renew it.
Reed City leaders say they need the money for other city priorities.
9&10’s Taylor Jones has more details with how the DDA and downtown businesses feel,
The DDA in Reed City has been around for the last 30 years and has done several projects throughout the years.
But city leaders feel they could use the DDA funding elsewhere.
“We need those property tax dollars,” says Ron Howell, city manager.
The DDA in Reed City gets as much as 250 thousand dollars through property tax each year, the city says they want that money back.
“The DDA is getting its projects done, but here’s a city faced with no additional revenue growth because the DDA did a good job, its district grew, but they captured more dollars then they did projects. We had to allow them to expire and not renew so that we can have those taxes returned to the city,” says Howell.
The city wants to use those dollars for other things, like the fire department and police, park and road repairs. But DDA chairman Ron Neal feels his group is necessary.
“I think the DDA is needed in some form because of what we have done in the past. We had built the police station, the new fire department, we redid the downtown area, we have done a million dollar sewer line for Yoplait,” says Neal.
Downtown businesses are now concerned about their future.
“My biggest concern is I hope that with the DDA being dissolved, I hope that the money still gets put back into the downtown area. It doesn’t give you a warm and fuzzy feeling when you see empty building after empty building and businesses leaving town. I hope that this change doesn’t affect the funds that do get directed downtown whether it be sidewalks, decorations or new businesses coming in, helping new business owners out,” says Jesse Kailing, owner of Sunny’s Bar and Grille.
The DDA plans to go out strong with several projects including repairing several roads.
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