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County committee delays decision on joining Downtown Cleveland Improvement District after lengthy debate
Summary
After extended discussion about costs, voting rights and safety services, the committee agreed to hold Resolution 20250044 — a petition to opt county properties into the Downtown Cleveland Improvement District (DCID) — for one week to allow staff to clarify funding sources, parcel lists and board representation.
The Cuyahoga County Economic Development & Planning Committee on Jan. 27 discussed at length whether the county should opt certain properties into the Downtown Cleveland Improvement District and authorize the county executive to sign the required petition. Committee members raised questions about the fiscal impact, board voting implications and how county participation would affect reauthorization petitions that require signatures representing 60% of linear front footage in the district.
Katie Gallagher of the county executive’s office and Michael Diemer, president and CEO of Downtown Cleveland Inc., outlined DCID’s structure and services, including a clean-and-safe ambassador program, safety specialists, court-watch coordination and pilot smart cameras. Diemer and Tom Coyne (DCIC chair) said private property owners contribute just over $5 million annually, about 80% of which funds clean-and-safe services, and argued that county opt-in would signal institutional support and help secure reauthorization signatures; they said county participation would amount to roughly 3–3.5% of the linear frontage calculation and that the first-year county payment in the substitute is $184,655 (seven-year total ~$1.387 million).
Several council members expressed concern about paying to become a voting member, the county's role relative to existing support (including a $130,000 annual payment), and whether joining would obligate the county to provide additional services. Councilmember Simon and others asked how the county’s existing subsidies would be reconciled with the formula-based assessment. Committee members also raised public-safety coordination questions tied to sheriff patrol deployments downtown and whether the SID would help pay for those services.
Given outstanding questions about which county parcels are included, how the assessment will be billed across public entities, and the budget source for the 2025 payment, the committee voted to hold the resolution for one week to gather more details and receive written materials (parcel lists, board membership and the Cleveland City Council legislation referenced by presenters).
