PROVO — Businesses closer to the center of downtown Provo would pay more into the downtown business alliance than those farther away under a new proposal to fund the business improvement district.

The new assessment on downtown property would charge a higher rate to businesses on Center Street from 500 West to 100 East and on University Avenue from about 50 South to 300 North.

"We propose a tiered district," Provo Downtown Alliance President Bill Bancroft said. "The farther out a business is from the center of the alliance boundaries, the less it will be assessed."

The proposal, outlined at a meeting this week, also removes the exemption for government property.

The city council has signaled it will agree to pay for city property within alliance boundaries. A majority of the council also has committed to lobby federal, state and county officials to pay the assessment for those government properties.

The Provo City Council voted May 15 to reject the alliance's request to renew its assessment of downtown businesses because nearly 30 percent of property owners in the district opposed the renewal.

Though it rejected the assessment proposal, city council members made it clear they do not oppose the alliance, just its plan to continue assessing downtown businesses at the same rate — whether or not they were on Center Street and enjoying the most benefits from alliance programs.

The council put its money where its mouth is. The old assessment ran out on June 30, and the council is paying the alliance's budget at least through September, a cost of $50,000.

The proposal rejected by the city council on May 15 called for all businesses in the business improvement district to be assessed at a rate of .0014.

The new proposal lowers the rate for every business in the district. Those in the very center would be assessed at a rate of .00112.

Those surrounding the center would pay at a rate of .0084. Those farthest away would be assessed at .0056.

The overall boundaries of the district would not change.

State Rep. Steve Clark, R-Provo, sent a letter to the city council backing the plan. Clark's wife, Cindy, is a member of the city council.

The new proposal would raise $118,000. The alliance needs another $50,000 for its annual budget. That money would be raised by assessing the government properties in the district.

City Council Chairman George Stewart led the opposition in May, calling the previous assessment plan unfair. He was impressed by the new proposal.

"You've addressed the concerns of people on the fringes of the district because you've tiered the assessment," Stewart said.

State law requires the city to follow a long process of allowing for public comment and feedback from businesses and property owners who would be assessed.

That process could last beyond September.

"We'll be sure you'll continue to be funded until we have an assessment vote," Stewart told alliance representatives.

The alliance will add a member of the City Council to its board because the city will be paying a large percentage of the group's budget through the assessment of its downtown property.

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E-mail: twalch@desnews.com