Exeter BID –The wrong tax at the wrong time
Two years ago The Exeter Bid proposal was overturned by a 48-52% majority, a disastrous result considering the resources that had gone in to promoting it. It was clearly the wrong tax at the wrong time – hated by a majority of small business owners but supported by the Council because of the revenue it would raise.
There are with three main reasons as to why I think it is a mistake to try and force the BID levy on us again.
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Firstly THE TIMING OF THE BID LEVY could not be worse. Businesses are currently facing a triple-dip recession, and the BID levy amounts to an additional tax that many will be unable to pay. What many people do not know is that if you are unable to pay the BID levy, then recovery orders will be implemented through ECC. The last thing already beleaguered businesses need is another Council Bailiff knocking at the door.
Secondly I believe that the BID levy in fact presents POOR VALUE FOR MONEY. 10% of the BID Levy will be used on admin costs. 10% of £3 Million is £300,000: This is £300,000 to be spent on admin costs that local businesses currently DO NOT HAVE TO FIND. It is simply an added cost that included wage bills of £50,000 and £39,000 per year for running the scheme – a far higher wage than many small businessmen earn.
How the remaining BID levy will be spent is determined through BID proposals, which BID members (anyone who has to pay) are invited to put forward. These included, in the previous BID proposal, a possible £200,000 per year for Christmas lights, £55,000 for CCTV and £15,00 per year "to sort out the seagull problem". Many of these proposals directly benefit Exeter City Council, who are empowered by voters to provide these services in the first place.
ECC argue that they no longer have the budget for providing these services, but pleading poverty seems unfair when vast sums have been spent on the Royal Albert Memorial Museum (£24 Million), and the landscaping of the area surrounding John Lewis (£2 million). The BID levy simply takes £750,000 out of Exeter Businesses pockets, then gives it back to them via BID proposals – minus the cost of admin fees.
This brings me to my third point - that the BID levy could prove to be A PUBLIC RELATIONS DISASTER because of the way project proposals are brought to the table.
In a real business environment an individual would live or die on how they spend their money. Under the BID levy scheme our money is pooled, then the BID Company takes out its cut (leaving at least 10% less cash than to begin with), leaving a Committee to come up with ideas as to how to spend the rest of the cash. My argument is that businesses know best how to spend their own money, and the very success of their business is what makes the 'district' they operate in thrive. Empty shop units drive people away from a street much more than poor signage (look at The Harlequin Centre).
The Committee mentality that drives the BID is much more suited to the Public Sector than the Private Sector. This is because the Public Sector take their wages out first, then divvy up the rest of the budget, where the Private Sector have to do exactly the opposite to survive. Many businesses feel that their huge rates bill is enough of a contribution to the public sector, especially in the wake of horror stories in the press about political corruption, let alone the banking crisis.
In short, I feel that businesses already contribute enough to the local economy, and that the BID is an ill conceived idea.
ANON
Comments
by czarchasm
Tuesday, March 05 2013, 8:24AM
“A very well thought-out position, which I agree with wholeheartedly.
ECC is very well practiced at crying poor-mouth, and expecting everybody else to pay again for things they are already paying for. ECC may consider this acceptable, but no one in the real world does. It would make far more sense to see ECC cutting its cloth according to its means, and reducing expenditure on some of the bight shiny things it thinks bring it kudos before it asks tax payers to shoulder yet more of a burden.
Its is also interesting to see the spread of the mindset that devalues and seeks to ignore the democratic process if it doesn't throw up the result that is wanted. We've seen it with the EU. Now we're seeing it with ECC. The business community rejected the Exeter BID proposal 2 years ago. Only 2 years ago. The fact that the subject has been raised again so soon displays contempt for democratic principles.”