However, some downtown property owners did not support the renewal and say they are unhappy with how the revenue from the assessments is being spent.
“The SID is heavy with administrative salaries and light with results,” said Chris Riegel, founder and chief executive of digital signage company Stratacache who owns a handful of downtown office buildings. “I strongly believe that money spent on things like CURIO is not being well spent and should be directly spent on police bike patrols and direct security/safety action to make downtown safer.”
CURIO at Courthouse Square is a series of lunchtime events and programming designed to draw people to the downtown public plaza space.
SID renewal
Special improvement districts are areas in which property owners agree to pay additional fees or taxes for specific services or improvements. To create or renew a SID, a petition must be signed and approved by the owners of at least 60% of the front footage in the district.
This requirement excludes properties owned by churches or the government unless those organizations specifically request that their properties be included in the district.
Katie Meyer, president of the Downtown Dayton Partnership, said more than half of private property owners in the downtown SID have signed the petition reauthorizing the assessments for another five years. She said the petition exceeded the statutory 60% frontage threshold earlier this month when the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners voted to sign the petition.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
Earlier on, in July, the Dayton City Commission authorized the city manager to sign the petition and subject the city’s properties to the assessment when the partnership got the signatures of least half of private property owners.
The Downtown Dayton SID was first approved in 1994 and was renewed every five years since. The district’s northern and western boundaries are the Great Miami River and Interstate 75, and the eastern boundary parallels Patterson Boulevard, though commercial parts of the Oregon District also are included. To the south, the district ends at or just past U.S. 35. The current SID expires at the end of the year.
The Downtown Dayton SID generated about $1.7 million from assessments in 2025, according to the Montgomery County Auditor’s Office. Auditor data indicates that about 915 downtown parcels are assessed annual fees in the district, which generally range from a couple hundred dollars to thousands of dollars.
The renewed SID is projected to generate between $1.85 million to $2.25 million annually in each of the next five years. Fees are based on front footage and auditor-assessed property values.
What does the SID do?
Meyer said the SID assessments account for the lion’s share of the Downtown Dayton Partnership’s annual budget. But the partnership also gets funding from grants, sponsorships and memberships.
The partnership directly employs 10 people, including several part-time workers. One of the most visible SID initiatives is the downtown ambassador program.
The partnership contracts with a company called Block by Block that employs seven ambassadors who power-wash sidewalks, pick up litter, remove graffiti and weeds and provide assistance like directions and other information to downtown visitors, workers and residents.
Ambassadors, who wear neon green shirts during warm weather and bright blue jackets with reflective stripes when it’s cold outside, also are supposed to serve as the “eyes and ears” for police, and workers patrol the urban center on foot and on bikes.
Meyer said the SID services plan for 2026 to 2030 is very similar to the plan for 2021 to 2025. It calls for funding programs and initiatives that seek to promote economic development, street vibrancy and creative placemaking, plus support marketing, events, strategic planning and advocacy and creating clean and safe spaces.
But Meyer said there will be an stronger focus on trying to improve street safety and people’s perceptions of safety.
“Folks feel the lack of office workers and there’s a perceived increase in homelessness and people loitering with mental health issues,” she said. “I don’t have data that shows that it’s increased, but anecdotally businesses who have been here a long time continue to share their concerns related to safety and perceptions of safety.”
Dayton Police Department data show that downtown has significantly less crime than other parts of the city. But the 2024 Dayton Survey found that about 30% of city residents say feel unsafe or very unsafe downtown, compared to 38% who indicated that they feel safe or very safe in the urban center. Some people who live in the suburbs and other communities in the Miami Valley region say they do not think downtown is very safe.
Meyer said one idea under consideration is to hire an “outreach ambassador” to try to work with people on the streets who appear to be struggling or who display worrisome sidewalk behaviors.
She also said the partnership will try to help make downtown as “nimble” as possible, with a diversity of offerings, so it will adapt and thrive whatever the future holds.
About the Author
