TACOMA, Wash. — Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards on Tuesday proposed three initiatives to help businesses impacted by crime across the city.
The proposals come less than a week after hundreds gathered at the LeMay - America’s Car Museum to raise the alarm on problems affecting their businesses, but Woodards said the city has been working on the initiatives for quite some time.
“The issues that are plaguing some of our businesses are an ongoing cost that makes it very difficult for them to sustain themselves during this difficult time,” Woodards said at a Tacoma City Council study session on Tuesday.
According to an end-of-year crime report from the Tacoma Police Department, the city saw an increase in both violent and property crimes in 2021 compared to 2020.
The first city initiative proposes allocating $250,000 for short-term private security enhancements in business districts.
Jeff Robinson, director of community and economic development for the city, said at Tuesday’s meeting that the city is looking into the funding being used for one- to two-person teams to provide security services. The details are still being worked out, like what the shift would look like, how long it would stay in place and which areas of the city would be prioritized.
The second initiative would allocate $300,000 for window replacements. Robinson said that the average cost of a window replacement is about $2,500 and estimated the funding could pay for about 120 replacements.
“A lot of businesses have their windows broken out, and they continue to be broken out. Insurance is increasing, and we want to find a way to help curb some of that,” Woodards said Tuesday.
Broken windows were a common complaint among business owners who attended the business summit last week. Eric Cederstrand, president of Commencement Bay Development and a real estate broker for Neil Walter, told The News Tribune he spent over $60,000 on broken windows in 2021.
Again, there are still details for City Council to consider, Robinson said, such as equity of distribution of funding across council districts and the time frame of the vandalism.
The third proposal offers businesses that are participating in the BRAVO program up to $3,000. BRAVO stands for “Businesses Requiring A Vaccine Verification Onsite” and was launched by the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department in January. The voluntary program provides guidance, training tools and signage to businesses that require proof of vaccination against COVID-19 for indoor activities. Various businesses, including ALMA, Red Star Taco Bar and The Grand Cinema, have joined BRAVO.
The $100,000 investment proposed by the city could provide assistance to up to 35 businesses.
“While we as a city have not mandated vaccinations for public spaces, we do want to support those businesses that have stood up to say they will take additional opportunities to protect their customers and employees,” Woodards said.
Woodards said the proposals are a starting point, but the conversations with businesses will be ongoing.
Woodards asked city staff to return next week with dedicated funding for the programs, likely using dollars from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding.
Aside from the proposed initiatives, the city is studying the viability of creating up to four business improvement areas (also called BIAs). The Downtown Tacoma Partnership is a BIA for downtown Tacoma, which promotes businesses there while providing trash clean-up and security officers who patrol the area.
This story was originally published by The News Tribune.
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