Downtown Aurora business owners could soon see a new 1% property tax after the city council held a public hearing Tuesday on a proposal to establish a fresh Special Service Area 1, the funding mechanism that pays for promotion, maintenance and development in the downtown district. The current SSA 1 expires at the end of this year, and city officials say the vote to replace it is scheduled for November 10.
Mayor John Laesch confirmed the proposed levy would amount to 1 percent, according to WSPY News. The tax would be collected by the city and would levy property taxes on business owners within the downtown Aurora boundaries, funding local development, promotion and maintenance efforts in the area. City officials sent a letter to all local downtown businesses ahead of the hearing to explain the proposal and the process.
Danielle Tufano, Aurora’s downtown economic development manager, said some businesses questioned how much their taxes would increase under the new district, per the same report. She added that officials provided answers to all business questions raised during the outreach process, though the exact dollar impact on individual property owners was not detailed.
A Three-Decade-Old Funding Tool Facing Renewal
The push to re-establish SSA 1 isn’t new territory for Aurora. The city’s downtown special service area was created by ordinance on September 6, 1994, and has been periodically extended since then to support downtown redevelopment efforts, according to city records reviewed by the City of Aurora. The council formally adopted Ordinance 26-0389 in June to propose the new district and scheduled Tuesday’s public hearing, noting the existing area’s scheduled expiration…