Frequently Asked Questions

Downtown Willow Glen is currently a Business Improvement District (BID) what happens to the BID if the CBID is approved?

If the CBID is approved, the BID and its fee methodology will be dissolved. Since 1989, Willow Glen businesses have paid an annual assessment on their business license based on the type of business as shown below. Our hope is that business owners will work with their property owners to contribute at least as much as they are already paying under the BID. The goals are very much the same for BID and CBID, however, the collection and assessment methodology is different.

Businesses under current BID

Banks/Savings	$825
Retail/Restaurants	$400
Non-retail/Professional/Non-profit	$275
Independent Contractors/Stylists	$100

Property Owners (assessed by building square footage) under current BID

Buildings under 10,000 sq. feet	$275
Buildings over 10,000 sq. feet	$525
Buildings over 20,000 sq. feet	$800

How will the CBID be managed?

The Willow Glen Business Association (WGBA) will be the management corporation of the CBID. The Board of Directors will consist of property owners, business owners and community members Ð which is the current composition of the WGBA board Ð representing the three-legged stool concept of stakeholders in our community. The Board will govern the organization, ensuring that the funds are collected and spent according to the District Management Plan. Meetings of the board and its subcommittees are subject to the Ralph M. Brown Act and must be open to the public. The Willow Glen CBID will last for 15 years and upon the 15th year, the property owners may vote to renew the CBID.

Will the City reduce services if the CBID is approved and implemented?

Absolutely not, which is one of the main attractions with a CBID. A service baseline agreement will be entered into with all City agencies that currently provide services to downtown Willow Glen. The CBID will hold those agencies accountable for continuing to provide services and under California law, the City is not allowed to cut services specific to our district unless it is making cuts City wide. The WGBA board took it a step further and have a letter, authored and signed by Mayor Reed and District 6 Councilmember Oliverio pledging to maintain City services within the CBID (see letter dated July 14, 2008).

Who is the consultant and who paid for his contract?

Marco LiMandri is the consultant and his company is NewCity America. Since 1990, Marco and New City America has worked for and advised in the consideration and formation of 45 special assessment districts, BIDs, PBIDs, Neighborhood Improvement Districts, Special Service Areas or Community Benefit Districts in California and throughout the US. He hails from San Diego where he formed the BIDs and CBIDs in Little Italy, a world-class neighborhood business district where he grew up and continues to live with his large family.

In 2007, San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed earmarked funds to pay the consultantÕs fees as a way to help support the efforts of the Willow Glen Business Association build a more vital economic engine for the district and the City as a whole. The Mayor and Councilmember Oliverio consider the CBID in Willow Glen as the first of many opportunities city-wide for our neighborhood districts, of which there are seven (7) more that might consider this same economic development tool, including West San Carlos, The Alameda and Japantown.

Where is the Willow Glen Community Benefit Improvement District?

Essentially, most commercial properties on and around Lincoln Avenue between Minnesota Avenue to Pedro Street (see map). We currently have a Willow Glen Business Improvement District, established in 1989, and the CBID boundaries are very similar to those boundaries with additional properties added to the CBID which have been rezoned or reused as commercial buildings after 1989 or have a direct link to the activities of the business district.

How much will it cost and when and how will the assessment happen?

Assessments vary for each property and is based on three components: lot size, building size and linear street frontage with a cost multiplier tied to each and based on methodology used in dozens of other CBIDs. Properties are categorized into two zones Ð Zone 1 (essentially from Minnesota to Willow along Lincoln Avenue) and Zone 2 (essentially from Willow Street to Pedro, just past the Coe bridge). The CBID will be included in the property ownerÕs tax bill, of which 50% of the total will come in April and 50% in November.

Do residents pay a CBID assessment?

ABSOLUTELY NOT! No one outside the boundaries of the CBID will pay any assessment.