U District Business Improvement Area

Upcoming Ratepayer Advisory Board Meetings:

• Thursday, March 30, 2023 | 4:00 – 5:30pm (ZOOM)
• Thursday, May 4, 2023 | 4:00 – 5:30pm Budget Workshop
• Thursday, June 22, 2023 | 4:00 – 5:30pm Annual Meeting

CLICK HERE FOR BOARD AGENDAS & PACKETS

For public comment, please contact Don Blakeney at don@udistrictpartnership.org.

A Business Improvement Areas (BIA’s) is self assessing mechanism enabled by Washington State Law and created to fund business district revitalization and management within specific geographic boundaries. The City of Seattle collects the assessments from the area’s ratepayers (defined by Washington State as the owners of commercial, multi-use and multi-family properties in the area) on behalf of the BIA and reimburses monthly expenses incurred by the program manager. Each BIA is governed by a ratepayer’s advisory board that is responsible for creating bylaws and making key strategic decisions on programs and services, budgets, and goals.

The UDBIA is overseen by the local Ratepayer Advisory Board. This board is composed of a diversely representative group of U District community members who advise the City of Seattle on the management of the UDBIA. The Ratepayers of the UDBIA also meet annually to share their recommendation of the next fiscal year’s budget, work plan, and program manager. The Program Manager of the UDBIA is the U District Partnership (UDP), a local nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization.
Find a list of members of the UDBIA Ratepayer Advisory Board here

Total Budget = $1,409,509

• Clean and Safe Program = $674,250
• Program Management = $200,033
• Economic Development Program = $241,872
• Marketing and Events Program = $197,331
• Urban Vitality Program = $96,023

The original U District Business Improvement Area (UDBIA) was established by Seattle City Council ordinance in 1996 to levy special assessments upon owners of business property, multi-family residential property, and mixed-use property within the area to provide improved cleaning, security, and a forum to address community issues. The original area covered included University Way NE between Campus Parkway and 52nd Street and sections of the surrounding streets.

In 2015, the UDBIA was reestablished and expanded to include a wider region and scope. The UDBIA has a tiered assessment structure. Every Ratepayer inside the UDBIA boundaries pays a rate based on the Total Taxable Value of their property into the General BIA Fund. If a property is located within one of two cleaning areas, there is also an additional fee based on the total Lot Area of the property to cover the cost of regular cleaning. In 2020, the City Council voted 9-0 to renew the UDBIA for a 12-year period. You can view the ordinance here.

Ratepayers and members of the public can find UDBIA meeting details below:

U District BIA Annual Ratepayer Meeting
Thursday, June 22, 2023
4:00pm

RSVP to Participate
To participate in the Annual Meeting as a ratepayer, please RSVP in advance of the meeting to Don Blakeney: don@udistrictpartnership.org with the following information:

• Your Name: (First, Last)
• Property: (Address)
• Property Owner: (Person/Entity)
• Your Affiliation: (Owner/Designee*)

*For any designee of a Ratepayer to vote on their behalf, please provide proof of that designation in the form of a written and signed statement from the Ratepayer.

About the Meeting and Rules for Voting
The purpose of the Annual Meeting is to allow Ratepayers of the U District Business Improvement Area (BIA) to learn about the budget and work plan for the coming year, as proposed by the UDBIA Ratepayers’ Advisory Board to the City of Seattle Finance Director AND whether or not they recommend that the U District Partnership continue as the Program Manager for the funds of the U District BIA.

“Ratepayers” are defined as the property owners who receive and pay the annual assessments of the U District BIA. Each Ratepayer is allotted one vote. A Ratepayer may only vote if they are present.

A Ratepayer shall identify who represents the ratepayer and holds that right to vote. We recommend that any designee of a Ratepayer to attend and vote on their behalf have proof of that designation in the form of a written and signed statement from the Ratepayer.

• For any individual property owner who is a ratepayer, that person may designate the person who is empowered to vote for them.
• For any legal entity comprised of a single individual owner, that individual owner shall designate the person who is empowered to vote for that entity.
• For any property that is owned by a legal entity comprised of multiple individual owners, they shall have one vote and that group of owners shall designate the person who is empowered to vote for that entity.
• For any legal entity comprised of multiple individual owners that owns multiple properties, they shall have one vote and that group of owners shall designate the person who is empowered to vote for that entity.
• For any property governed by a Home Owners Association (HOA) shall have one vote, the HOA Board shall designate the person who is empowered to vote on that HOA’s behalf. That person shall identify themselves as the representative of the HOA when claiming their ballot.

No individual attending the Annual Ratepayers’ Meeting may have or exercise more than one vote.