Economic Development is important, no matter the size or location of a community. Government leaders in the small town of Bel Aire, Kan., know this as well as anyone.
Back in 2008, Bel Aire had a new housing development that was struggling. To assist this development, city leaders used a Community Improvement District (CID) to help with special assessments and property tax incentives to give the development a much-needed boost. The strategy worked, as a new builder came in and completed the development.
"
As a longtime ICMA member, I thought it might be good to share this story and how we used a well-known retail/commercial tool to revive a residential development," says Bel Aire City Manager Ty Lasher. "The goal was to show other managers who have the use of a CID to look for any benefit possible as a tool."
So, Lasher,
Michelle Meyer and Alison McKenney Brown - all graduates of the WSU Hugo Wall School's MPA program - wrote an article titled "Community Improvement District to the Rescue." This article was published by
ICMA and GFOA and was also included in the book
Small Town Economic Development: Reports on Growth in Practice
.
"The authors," notes Lasher, "felt it was a great article to use for their book as an example of an economic tool typically used for certain purposes being used for something that was very different but created a win for the community."