The Milan News-Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
DDA may be on its way out
Doug Gilson proposes elimination of 1.7-mill levy on downtown
By Brian Cox, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: February 21, 2008
The Milan City Council is expected to entertain a motion Monday to dissolve the Downtown Development Authority.
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Councilman Doug Gilson proposed the surprising move at the end of last week's council meeting, saying eliminating the DDA would save downtown property owners a 1.7 mills.
"We've talked about this for quite sometime," Gilson said this week. "Now is the critical time to eliminate a line item altogether. The DDA is not going to hurt anyone if it's not around."
The city cut all funding for the DDA in 2006 as part of a major budget overhaul, effectively eliminating the position of the authority's director, Becca Mangani. Mangani continued on as DDA director part time through 2007 after an anonymous donor and the Milan Area Chamber of Commerce offered to fund her salary.
The funding cut further strained an already tenuous relationship between the council and the DDA board.
Gilson said his proposal to do away with the DDA did not signal a lack of concern about the health of the downtown on the part of council.
"We're not doing the DDA any good at all," he said. "They would be better off forming their own downtown merchants' association funded by dues. I think they'll be more successful as a downtown without us being involved. They can move forward without our interference."
Councilman Rod Hill, who is a former member of the DDA's board and is currently the council's liaison to the organization, said he believed Gilson's idea was "ham-handed."
"While I can certainly understand his rationale," said Hill, "I would hope we would not enter into it prematurely."
Though admitting that the city and council are still "miles apart in terms of communication and cooperation," Hill remained hopeful that the relationship could be improved.
"I certainly don't see any benefit to dissolving the DDA," Hill said. "I think we would be cutting off our nose to spite our face."
The opportunity to improve Milan's downtown through grants, which are available to a DDA and not other government or private entities, would be lost, Hill said.
He argued that the tax savings for downtown property owners would not be significant.
"My sense is that downtown property owners are not so much seeking tax relief as they are results," he said.
The 1.7 mills generates approximately $6,000 annually for the DDA.
Mayor Kym Muckler, who conceded an awareness of "an animosity between the DDA and the city," said she understood both sides of the issue.
"The city is in survival mode right now," she said. "At the same time, we've got to be careful we don't lose our vision of the future."
Muckler's current draft of a budget doesn't provide any funds for the DDA.
"We don't have money to subsidize anyone right now," she said. "We're not going to be able to budget ourselves into prosperity, but we do need to put money aside for capital improvement projects."
Newly elected Councilman Joe Chapin has long objected to the DDA and supports Gilson's measure to eliminate its millage.
"It's time that the city not invest any more money in this," he said. "I think the downtown businesses need to step up and take care of themselves. It should not be funded through taxpayers' money."
The mayor said she supported the goals of the DDA, but was not convinced the organization was the only avenue toward improving downtown.
"It's really important that we have a group of people interested in promoting our downtown," she said. "We can't give up on the idea of improving downtown."
If council Monday night passes a motion to dissolve the DDA, a draft of the action would require at least two readings at subsequent meetings before official passage.
Staff Writer Brian Cox can be reached at 429-7380 or bcox@heritage.com.
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