City Approves 2-Year Agreement with San Rafael Chamber to Enhance BID Funding, Capacity Building & Management

At last Monday's City Council meeting, the Council approved entering into a 2-year agreement with the Chamber of Commerce, paying them $50K per year to create The BID Enhancement Program.  The BID has been a leading organization in Downtown San Rafael since 1979, but the COVID-19 pandemic significantly reduced the number of active businesses and the collections of BID assessments.  One key initiative the Chamber will be leading is remitting delinquent notices to businesses for their annual assessment fee.  Last year, the BID was able to fundraise through events and brought in nearly $13k to support the district. These funds helped make up some of the loss in assessments but were not enough no to complete some program desires.  San Rafael's Director of Economic Development & Innovation will work alongside the Chamber and BID to explore a Property Based Improvement District (PBDID), aimed at generating more income for the BID to execute its business-focused programs to improve the downtown corridor. Supporting the downtown is and will remain the BID's only job. We are hopeful that this partnership can help the BID build capacity to help strengthen businesses within the district and bolster this city we all love.