If you live within the boundaries of the River Falls Business Improvement District (BID), prepare to get your final BID assessments for 2020. That’s right, another tax. An individual property owner’s chip-in amount for collective BID distirct prosperity is calculated based on the ratio of a given assessed property value compared to that of all others in the district as of January 1, 2020, with a reported “average assessment” of $500 per property owner, although some property owners can expect to get bills anywhere from $500 up to $1000, and a chosen few (based on assessed property value), can expect all the way to $10K in BID pay-in. As a modest reward for the financial cost incurred, the vast majority of the $44,500 raised by the BID makes a direct 180 degree turn around and is re-invested back in River Falls downtown area, south of Division Street, that is. That’s the district’s northern boundary, assessment-wise. As a reward to those who may happen to own businesses north of Division Street, there’s no additional tax to begin with. Win some, lose some—but back to taxes.

“The assessment is essentially an additional tax,” BID Board Chair Joleen Larson wrote to the council in a memorandum contained in the October 13 council packet as one of three reasons it was hard for the Business Improvement District (BID) to take off when first organized. “It is understandable no one likes paying more in taxes,” she wrote. For those who do pay, though, there are greater community benefits, it seems.

Begun in 1989, the River Falls BID suffered from perceived redundancy with the (strong) Chamber of Commerce and concerns that funds would not be diverted to roads and other capital improvements, “like building City buildings,” Larson noted in her memorandum to the council. In 2000, the River Falls BID shifted to its currently volunteer board structure with City staff assistance. By helping par down the administrative cost, it “ensures that a greater share of the BID assessment is available for downtown improvements.” Among the dividends to BID district residents are $920,000 spent and gone to serve them, while “for the last 20 years,” 90 percent of funds assessed have gone directly back into the BID, with just five percent going to the City for Administration fees. That means 95 percent of the funds raised are used directly in the BID and stay within its boundary. So what’s that tax boundary?

With a rough square shaped section to the south bordered by West Cascade Avenue, then State and Vine Streets, the River Falls BID shoots past South Main Street to hug Lake George and the Kinickinnic River bank heading north, before crossing the river to turn west at Pine Street, then going north at Lewis Street, turning east on Division, making a quick detour south on North Third Street, cutting over quick onto Cedar, rushing down the alley between 2nd and 3rd Avenues, taking in a slow-motion parking lot lap at the River Falls State Bank property, before heading back west down East Walnut Avenue to turn south again onto South 2nd Street, coming out at the UW-River Falls campus roundabout on West Cascade Avenue and making a right turn. straight to the BID zone’s end. Do the above and you’ve made a circuit of the outer boundary of the Business Improvement District in downtown River Falls, though there are property boundaries to take into consideration and missing what’s inside would be a true shame.

As to the inside area, we suggest you take it in at a walking pace and stay safe, keeping the safety of fellow city residents in mind. The best River Falls downtown is still to come, in part thanks to something most everybody hates, “an additional tax.”—go figure.