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House approves municipal-improvement amendment to let downtown businesses tax themselves, 41‑32
Summary
Lawmakers passed HB76 to allow creation of downtown business improvement districts and targeted taxing for economic promotion; floor amendments limited administrative spending and broadened applicability to all classes of cities after contentious debate over representation and fairness.
Representative Bradford reintroduced House Bill 76, an amendment to the Municipal Improvement Act that would enable downtown business promotion districts to levy assessments on businesses inside a defined area to fund marketing and revitalization activities.
Opponents such as Representative Harwood characterized the structure as “taxation without representation,” arguing that businesses in a narrowly drawn district could be compelled to pay assessments even if they object. Supporters, including Bradford and other backers, said targeted assessments give distressed downtowns a tool for revival and stressed local elected officials retain oversight on district configuration.
Floor amendments were debated and adopted: committee language limiting administrative costs was changed on the floor so that 70% of revenues must go to economic development activities and up to 30% could be used for administration; sponsors and critics debated whether the provision should apply only to first‑class cities or to all classes of cities. Following substitution motions and multiple speakers for and against, the House passed HB76 as amended by a roll‑call indicated on the floor (41 affirmative, 32 negative) and forwarded the bill to the Senate.
What changed: The floor substitute expanded or clarified the applicability to all classes of cities and set the 70%/30% allocation standard that sponsors said protects small businesses from administrative overhead consuming program dollars.
Next steps: HB76 goes to the Senate; local governments and business associations that backed the measure signaled they would engage at the committee stage there.
