FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FERNDALE DDA DECIDES TO SUSPEND PROPOSING
PRINCIPAL SHOPPING DISTRICT ASSESSMENT TO CITY OFFERNDALE CITY
COUNCIL
January
21, 2008, Ferndale, MI – Today at a special meeting of the
Ferndale DDA Board ofDirectors, the DDA approved suspending the
introduction of the Principal Shopping District (PSD)assessment
in order to further evaluate the needs of the business community
and the economics of the state and nation. The PSD was planned
to come before Ferndale City Council on January 28, 2008.
“Given
the outpouring of business owners concerned with the tough economic
conditions inMichigan and the recent concerns about the national
and global economy, the DDA wasunanimous in suspending the PSD
at this time,” said Ferndale DDA Executive Director Cristina
Sheppard-Decius. “As a board, we also felt that there was
a need for more input from business owners on the programs and
services provided by the PSD fund, and suspending it would allow
the DDA more time to work with business owners and hold focus
groups on the changing needs of the community.” The DDA
Board of Directors did however approve moving forward with extending
the 2 Mill Levy to the new boundary areas of the DDA, as well
as restoring the current levy of 1.4 on the original DDA boundaries
to 2 Mills. The 2 Mill Levy extension and restoration issue will
come before Council within the month.
With the expansion of the DDA in June, the DDA has no operating
funds from the new boundary areas and legally can not provide
services to those business and property owners outside of the
original boundaries. The DDA has basically doubled in size with
now 262 properties and 387 businesses in total.
“It
is crucial that the 2 Mill Levy pass at City Council in order
to service those additional businesses, as well as there are two
projects slated for the new areas this year that we would
otherwise have to pull,” said Jeff Nahan, Ferndale DDA Chairperson.
“The DDA Board of Directors still feels strongly that the
PSD is necessary for Downtown Ferndale in the future in order
to remain competitive and continue to have a vibrant downtown,
therefore we will continue to work towards that common goal.”
The DDA did not specify a date when the PSD issue would be brought
back to City Council, but
that it would be dependent upon the state of the economy and success
of the involvement with the business owners on how best to utilize
those funds. The DDA will be hosting focus group sessions, as
well as one-on-one interviews with business and property owners
over the next few months. The DDA will also be holding a strategic
planning meeting in February to begin this process.
PSD
Fact Sheet .pdf
Annual
Planning FYE 2008 overall objective ,pdf
Business
Benefit Sheet 2008-2013 .pdf
Final
PSD Rate Chart .pdf
PSD
Rate Map A .pdf
