PROVO — A debate that had divided downtown Provo business owners dissipated Tuesday when the City Council dropped a plan to force businesses to pay the annual budget of the Downtown Business Alliance.

Instead, the city will consider providing the lion's share of the budget, $150,000 a year, while asking business owners to donate voluntarily to the alliance's efforts to market and beautify historic downtown Provo.

Discussions to bridge the gap intensified Tuesday morning after news that 121 downtown business and property owners had filed written protests against the creation of a central business district by the deadline Monday evening.

"I felt very uncomfortable forcing on 30 percent of our good, downtown businesses something they don't want and don't support," council chairman George Stewart said. "It's just unhealthy for the downtown to have that kind of division."

The protesters represented more than 40 percent of downtown property values.

At least as many business owners supported the district. A previous version funded the Downtown Business Alliance for six years, but the City Council voted in May to stop charging a flat rate to all downtown businesses.

The city has paid the Alliance's way since June while city and alliance leaders tried to craft a new assessment that businesses would find fair.

"I was surprised," city councilwoman Cindy Richards said. "I thought because everyone was paying less and the proposal addressed fairness by creating three rates and charging the most to those who benefit the most, that fewer people would protest."

Stewart, Richards and fellow council members Cynthia Dayton, Cindy Clark and Barbara Sandstrom expected fewer than 5 percent to 10 percent to protest the proposal that they expected to vote on Tuesday night. Normally, the number of protests are even lower for downtown business districts around the country, including the downtown alliance in Salt Lake City.

The division in downtown Provo concerned area business leaders.

"A lot of the businesses were troubled the assessment was going to be mandatory," Nu Skin Vice President Gary Garrett said. "Now that it's voluntary, there should be fewer objections. I hope there are still businesses that would be willing to participate on a voluntary basis."

Nu Skin will be among them, Garrett promised. The company, based in a 10-story building, was charged the maximum $10,000 a year under the old formula and the proposed formula killed Tuesday.