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Kingsburg BID votes to renew district gift-card program, make it district-exclusive
Summary
The Kingsburg Downtown Business Improvement District Advisory Board voted to renew its participation in the 'Dollar Dollars' local gift-card program, approve a $22 renewal fee and direct staff to make the cards exclusive to the BID and extend or remove expirations.
The Kingsburg Downtown Business Improvement District Advisory Board voted Aug. 5 to renew its participation in the Dollar Dollars local gift-card program, authorize rolling the program into a district-only offering and request changes to expiration and denomination rules.
Board members debated whether the program — which lets customers buy gift-credit redeemable at participating merchants — remains useful to downtown merchants. Chairperson Carpenter said the renewal fee is small and that the program can be tailored: “It's $22 to renew it. And we decide if or when they expire, and we can make it bid exclusive,” Carpenter said.
The discussion reviewed past usage: board members said Jolene provided a report showing robust early use in 2021 (about $10,000 purchased, $6,000 redeemed in a 10-month period) but minimal activity more recently. Members expressed concern about short expiration windows that had frustrated customers. One board member suggested the city might have previously subsidized the program and recommended a joint promotion with city staff.
Staff and members discussed practical changes the board could request from the vendor, including removing expirations or extending them, setting minimum denominations to avoid processing many small-value redemptions, and limiting participating merchants to those inside the BID boundary. The board was told the vendor’s platform processes redemptions as ordinary card transactions and can issue digital cards.
Chairperson Carpenter moved to renew the program, make it exclusive to the district and change expiration and denomination structure; a board member seconded. The board voted in favor; the motion passed. Carpenter said she will follow up with Jolene and report details back to the board through city staff.
Board members said they plan a renewed promotional push in the fourth quarter and set a September 1 deadline for outreach tied to other BID initiatives.
The board did not set final vendor terms at the meeting; staff were directed to confirm renewal cost, expiration policy and a district-only configuration with the vendor and then circulate details to members.
