NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF SMALL BUSINESS SERVICES
On behalf of
THE CITY COUNCIL
NOTICE OF A PUBLIC HEARING
The City Council, by resolution adopted on September 23, 2014, set October 7, 2014 as the date, 10:00 a.m. as the time, and the City Council Committee Room, 2nd Floor, City Hall, New York, New York 10007, as the place for a public hearing (the "Public Hearing") to hear all persons interested in the proposed legislation, which would authorize an increase in the amount to be expended annually in the Fordham Road Business Improvement District (the "District") in the Borough of the Bronx, the extension of the Fordham Road Business Improvement District, and an amendment to the District Plan of the Fordham Road Business Improvement District to change the method of assessment upon which the district charge is based by implementing a maximum property assessment limit. The legislation shall be amended in accordance with the amended district plan (the "District Plan") on file at the Office of the City Clerk. The City Council has authorized the New York City Department of Small Business Services to publish, on its behalf, this notice of the Public Hearing containing the information required by Section 25 406(c) of the Administrative Code of the City of New York and summarizing the resolution adopted.
The District Plan was submitted to, and reviewed by, the City Planning Commission and the Bronx Community Boards 5, 6, and 7. The Community Boards recommended approval to the City Planning Commission, and the City Planning Commission approved the District Plan.
The existing District includes properties broadly bounded by East 192nd Street to the north, Jerome Avenue to the west, East 189th Street to the south, and Webster Avenue to the east. The planned extension will amend the boundaries to include two additional tax lots located at Fordham Market Plaza and One Fordham Plaza, LLC / 440 East Fordham Road, which will extend the District’s eastern boundary along East Fordham Road to Washington Avenue. The proposed extension adds a large commercial property and retail anchor, along with a central public plaza. Together, the proposed expansion increases the District’s capacity to manage and provide public events such as cultural programming and business promotion events for both commercial and residential constituents. The extended Fordham Road Business Improvement District will maintain the same level of sanitation, security, business promotion and marketing services, economic development initiatives, administration and other services currently provided to the existing District. Capital improvements shall be implemented on an as-needed basis, and the maximum cost of improvements shall not exceed $5,000,000 during the existence of the District. The extended District will be managed by the Fordham Road District Management Association, Inc.
To defray the cost of services and improvements provided in the District, all real property in the District shall be assessed in proportion to the benefit such property receives from the services and improvements. Each property shall be assessed at a rate, determined annually by the DMA, to yield an amount sufficient to meet the District's annual budget. The District wishes to authorize an increase in the amount to be expended annually in the District (i.e., the annual budget) from $625,000 to $670,000. This increase is proposed to maintain the level of services in the existing District, and to incorporate services into the extended District.
The District wishes to change the method of assessment used in the District so that the maximum amount that an individual commercial property pays does not exceed $45,000 a year when the District assessment is $670,000. The maximum individual assessment amount would later increase proportionally to any increase in the District’s annual expenditure above $670,000.
The formula for calculating the individual property assessment for the properties being added to the existing District will be identical to the formula previously used to calculate the individual property assessment and is detailed below. The formula for the properties in the existing District remains unchanged with the exception of the new maximum property assessment limit of $45,000.
CLASS A PROPERTY – COMMERCIAL
All properties in whole or in part devoted to commercial uses including vacant land shall constitute Class A property and shall be assessed at a rate reflective of the linear front footage (FF), assessed valuation (AV), and commercial square feet (CSF) for the specific property. Class A property shall be assessed in the following manner:
Rate 1 (“R1”) = (40% of the BUDGET) ÷ (TOTAL CLASS A FF)
Rate 2 (“R2”) = (45% of the BUDGET) ÷ (TOTAL CLASS A AV)
Rate 3 (“R3”) = (15% of the BUDGET) ÷ (TOTAL CLASS A CSF)
Note: The FF, AV, and CSF measurements above (the denominator in determining the appropriate rate) represent the total FF, AV, and CSF measurements, cumulatively from the entire district. The FF, AV, and CSF measurements below represent the individual property being assessed.
INDIVIDUAL CLASS A PROPERTY ASSESSMENT = [(R1) x (FF)] + [(R2) x (AV)] + [(R3) x (CSF)]
CLASS B PROPERTY – RESIDENTIAL
All properties if any, devoted in whole to residential uses shall constitute Class B property and will be assessed at one dollar ($1.00) per year.
CLASS C PROPERTY – GOVERNMENT & NOT-FOR-PROFIT
Government and not-for-profit owned property devoted to public or not-for-profit use shall constitute Class C property and be exempt from district assessment. Owners of Class C properties may however, choose to make voluntary annual contributions to the Fordham Road Business Improvement District’s operating budget. Government or not-for-profit owned properties devoted in whole or in part to commercial or for-profit uses shall constitute Class A property and the portion devoted to commercial/for-profit uses shall be assessed in the same manner as those properties listed as Class A properties.
The amount, exclusive of debt service, assessed and levied in any given year against benefited real property within the District may not exceed twenty percent (20%) of the total general City taxes levied in such year against such properties.
Copies of the resolution adopted by the City Council, which include a copy of the District Plan, are available for public inspection from 9:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. Monday through Friday at the Office of the City Clerk located at 141 Worth Street, New York, New York 10013. In addition, copies of the resolution are available free of charge to the public at the Office of the City Clerk.
Any owner of real property deemed benefited and therefore within the District, objecting to the District Plan, must file an objection at the Office of the City Clerk, on forms made available by the City Clerk, within thirty (30) days of the close of the Public Hearing concerning the establishment of the proposed District. If owners of at least fifty-one percent (51%) of the assessed valuation of all benefited real property situated within the boundaries of the District proposed for establishment, as shown on the latest completed assessment roll of the City, or at least fifty-one percent (51%) of the owners of benefited real property within the area included in the District proposed for establishment file objections with the City Clerk, the District shall not be established.