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This will be such a huge boost for this corridor. Hopefully creating this district can turn things around for the area....
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Stevens, the regional developer for the Hull Property Group which owns Macon Mall, said he has receive the necessary 51 percent of property owners along Eisenhower Parkway to back the plan. Also on June 9, a public hearing is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at the Macon-Bibb Government Center to discuss the business improvement district. The extra tax would only affect commercial property owners, not residential property owners.
“All the petitions have been signed,” Stevens said. “We’re well on our way.”
Stevens said the plan is to add 5 mills to the property taxes of commercial property owners over the next six years, which should generate about $330,000 a year. Right now, the proposed district starts at the Interstate 475 interchange, but the eastern boundary has not been finalized.
Stevens said the plan, which is undergoing revisions, calls for beautification efforts including mowing the interchange grass every 10 days to two weeks, since the state only mows there twice a year. Stevens said talks with the Georgia Department of Transportation already have started.
Before any work begins, Stevens said, a nonprofit that is tentatively being called the Middle Georgia Educational Corridor Business Improvement District will have to be created with its own executive director and board of directors, which will be made up of property owners in the corridor.
Stevens said the name was chosen to reflect the fact that Middle Georgia State College, Central Georgia Technical College and Virginia College are all located close to the corridor and have been supportive of the effort.
And Tuesday, county officials approved the creation of Macon's first business improvement district there.
The six-year plan would collect an extra 5 mills of property tax per year from business owners along the Eisenhower corridor that stretches from the Macon Mall to I-475.
County officials estimate the total would add up to about $330,000 a year.
A big portion of that will be dedicated to tackling safety concerns, says Commissioner Al Tillman, who proposed the plan.
"This is history in the making. This is a big deal for Macon and Bibb County," Tillman said. "If you want things like this to happen and continue, you have to stop committing crimes, we all have to come together and be serious about crime."
They hope for more deputy patrols, increased lighting and may consider contracting security. The plan also calls for trash and debris removal, right-of-way maintenance, landscaping, and better branding.
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