Freedom Flyer 10

The Business Improvement Area in Georgetown is serving its purpose and members are getting their money's worth.

That seems to be the opinion of members of the BIA and the executive heartily agrees.

But BIAs do have their detractors, both provincially and locally.

The Freedom Party of Ontario, a registered political party based in London, is actively campaigning to have BIAs annulled in the Niagara region. Freedom Party Action Chairman Marc Emery said his party's actions have played a role in eliminating the BIAs in North York and Aurora, Ont.

Mr. Emery said his party has been in contact with over 40 BIAs in the Niagara Peninsula and 12 from all over Toronto in the past three months and he has met with a great deal of response.

Their campaign has included publishing a pamphlet entitled "BIAs are Hazardous to your Economic Health and Independence".

Mr. Emery's arguments centre around the fact that business in the area designated as a BIA area have no chance to opt out of the program and have little say over how much money is spent and where it goes.

The party cites the Oakville BIA as a "typical" example of how budgets can skyrocket in a short period. "The BIA was formed in 1978 with a $10,000 budget, a mere $35 average for each of the 285 businesses. By 1986, only eight years later, the budget was up to $176,274, a whopping increase of 43 per cent each and every year," the party said.

In Georgetown the 1987 BIA budget stands at $39,890 for approximately 100 businesses, with an additional $15,000 left over from last year's budget, said Administrator-Clerk Joe Simon.

That represents a 21.6 per cent increase over the $32,800 budget in 1986.

The tax levied on each business in the BIA is not entirely decided by the BIA executive. The Province sets an assessment of each business in the area based on the physical size of the business. The town decides where the BIA boundaries are and the BIA executive submits a budget to the town which, in turn, must give its approval, Mr. Simon said.

The Georgetown BIA, which consists of roughly 100 businesses in the downtown core, has engaged in many activities in the past, which, executive members said, has provided members with value for their dollars.

Georgetown BIA Chairman Carol Barrow cited beautification of the downtown core as the organization's main responsibility.

"I tbink they do (get their money's worth) if they would just sit back and look at it. Beautification is an expensive thing to do," Mrs. Barrow said.

Trees, crosswalks, lights and a median are some of the examples Mrs. Barrow listed as BIA projects.

John McDonald, a director of the BIA executive, noted the BIA is involved in several annual activities including Pioneer Days (Main Street is closed off for three days in June for the event) and Midnight Madness (shops stay open until midnight in late summer.

Both Mrs. Barrow and Mr. McDonald said the BIA promotes the downtown core through cheaper advertising rates in local newspapers and through the installation of signs on the major arteries directing visitors to the downtown shopping area.

Coun. McDonald believes the local BIA has played a part in the rejuvenation of shopping in the downtown core.

BIAs are developed by the merchants themselves. Store owners operating in the affected area vote on whether or not to establish a BIA. But Mr. Emery noted those who oppose forming the BIA, or those who open a business in the BIA area, have no choice but to become a member and pay the tax levy. "It is pure coercion. Since you haven't joined our voluntary association on your own, fine, we'll force you to is the sentiment behind any BIA drive," the Freedom Party says.

Mr. McDonald feels the information published in the Freedom Party's pamphlet is "absolutely misleading. It's maddening. A lot of things are taken out of context," he said.

"It's not something that is imposed on anybody. It's a reality," he added.