The first inclination that downtown businesses weren’t interested in raising taxes to pay for the Downtown Denton Ambassador Program appeared on social media in March, shortly after news dropped that the Denton City Council had asked staff to gauge interest in doing so.
Offered by Kentucky-based security company Block by Block, the ambassador program has provided cleaning services, which can include removal of trash, graffiti and human waste, as well as hospitality and security services — mostly public relations, referrals for people who are homeless, and safety escorts — from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. seven days a week around the Square.
Only the city currently doesn’t have funds to support it beyond the pilot program’s first two years and sought help in late March from downtown business and property owners, a majority of whom opposed raising taxes to do so, according to a May 16 staff report.
“They are doing things that the city already should be doing,” said Tracy Runnels, a commercial real estate appraiser downtown. “We don’t want a prepackaged program.”
Dustin Sternbeck, the city’s chief communications officer, said funding for the ambassador program will be discussed at the June 17 council meeting as part of a larger programming discussion for the upcoming budget.
Without an alternative funding source, staff said in a May 16 report that the ambassador program would end in December, after launching in January 2024.
It’s a program that some people may not miss.
“I bet if you had all of us local small businesses downtown vote on this it would fail. We should not have to cover your shortfall in funding for a program highly despised by locals,” a downtown business owner wrote in a comment to the Denton Record-Chronicle’s Facebook page in March.
Not all locals despise it, though.
One local resident, Stanton Brasher, even changed his mind when his 19-year-old son Jacob got a job as an ambassador.
Brasher learned the Downtown Ambassadors aren’t “hall monitors” or “narcs,” as he wrote in a Facebook post, but instead help change flat tires and “old ladies cross the street” and walk people who request it to their cars after dark. He pointed out that they give blankets and bus passes to people who are homeless, encourage them to find places where they won’t be harassed and limit their interactions with police.
“I absolutely agree that the city should be taking care of the graffiti and trash, 100%, but I don’t think taxes pay for citizens with flat tires or umbrellas or helping women walk to their cars at night,” Brasher told the Record-Chronicle on Monday.
In January, city staff hosted an informational session for downtown property owners to discuss the possibility of a public improvement district, which levies additional taxes within the district to pay for public improvements. Attendees indicated support for public improvements, safety and security and amenities and facilities, while others requested more information on potential funding opportunities, according to the May 16 report.
The proposed district would cover a larger area than simply downtown around the Square, extending from Carroll Boulevard east to Crawford Street, and north to Congress Street and south to Eagle Drive.
Staff members were evaluating the possibility of an additional property tax on downtown businesses, from 10 to 30 cents per $100 property valuation. According to a May 16 staff report to the City Council, 219 downtown property owners would have been impacted by the increased tax rate.
The city also surveyed downtown property owners via U.S. mail and email. About 13% of downtown property owners — 14 who owned 28 properties — responded to the survey, with a majority (79%) opposed to raising taxes for a PID.
In late March, Runnels shared concerns with the Record-Chronicle about the city possibly raising taxes on downtown business owners, a majority of whom already pay what she called an “exceptional amount” for rent.
“I can’t imagine any of them agreeing to additional costs on top of that,” Runnels said in March.
Several readers shared that sentiment in social media comments to the Record-Chronicle’s report about the proposal.
“Great idea! Tax the already struggling local businesses who can barely keep up with the increase in cost of goods and rent,” a commenter wrote.
In late April, staff held a follow-up meeting with downtown property owners, in part to discuss what would be lost if the ambassador program ended. Impacted services would include less frequent power washing, graffiti and litter removal, hazardous cleanup and homeless referrals. Safety escorts and motor vehicle assistance would also be no longer available.
Staff also polled 10 of the 18 downtown business owners who attended the April 29 meeting and discovered that a majority — 9 out of 10 — opposed the PID, while all 10 would support the ambassador program at a reduced service level and cost through alternate funding sources.
“Based on feedback and the general consensus from Downtown property owners, gathered through survey responses and in-person meetings, staff does not recommend moving forward with the establishment of a Downtown Public Improvement District at this time, as the PID must be property owner driven,” Kristen Pulido, Denton Main Street program manager, and Courtney Douangdara, the city’s deputy director of community services, wrote in the May 16 staff report.
Runnels, who is part of the Denton Main Street Association, mentioned that cost was a factor and that it would be cheaper for the bigger landlords downtown who own several properties to hire someone to clean their properties regularly.
“You don’t know how much they are going to assess your property for and how much service you will receive,” Runnels said Monday.
The PID’s extended geographic boundaries included areas where there are no downtown businesses, tourists or much foot traffic — especially at night — such as east on Sycamore Street across the railroad tracks, or down by the police station on Hickory Street.
Runnels said business owners join the Main Street Association to help keep the downtown area vibrant. They “do things that need to be done” like decorating, hanging banners and cleaning up.
“We are our own small neighborhood association and don’t need to add the tax burden that we do not have a say in what they do with it,” Runnels said.