CASPER, Wyo. — On Wednesday, the Downtown Development Authority of Casper’s Board of Directors discussed some ideas about some new ways the DDA might be able to support downtown businesses and property owners.
The DDA receives funding from a mill levy on property owners within the district, a tax that is voted on and approved by such property owners before it is imposed. Some of that money could be used for a new grant program to help owners conduct improvements in the downtown district, Kevin Hawley, executive director of the DDA, said.
Hawley suggested the board consider establishing a grant program using $5,000 to $10,000 from what it receives in property taxes per year to help downtown property owners offset costs of improvements at their properties, such as fixing up sidewalks.
Someone recently asked whether the DDA had such a grant program, prompting Hawley to bring the idea up to the board.
“I think it is a great idea,” Deb Clark, owner of Eval.com and member of the DDA Board, said.
Clark said she had also heard from someone asking about removing false building fascias covering up original brick work downtown. She suggested a grant program to help with that may be something to consider.
Tim Schenk, chair of the board, noted that removing such fascias covering original brick should be done with caution as in some cases the original brick may have been damaged when the new exterior was added.
The DDA previously offered some support to businesses to make improvements to buildings. Hawley said that about 6–7 years ago when such a program was being discussed, Lou Taubert suggested grants be limited to supporting exterior work on properties rather than going to support things like adding new sprinkler lines inside. Hawley said the point was that the grants should be something that offer a collective benefit to downtown property owners.
Schenk said he thought it would be a good idea to focus the grant program on supporting exterior work rather than interior work.
While the amount of money the DDA would be able to offer likely wouldn’t be enough to make a huge difference on expensive projects, Hawley suggested the grant program could serve as a spur to encourage property owners to take care of smaller exterior maintenance issues they might otherwise put off.
Nicholas Grooms, board treasurer, said he thinks the grant program would be a good use of mill levy dollars the DDA receives from downtown property owners to support the development of the downtown area.
“I think it falls right within our mission,” Grooms said.
Clark said the grant program could be one piece in efforts to try and entice people to bring businesses downtown. She added that she’d like to see the board give more time to coming up with ways to attract new businesses and tenants to the downtown area.
Both Clark and Grooms noted that downtown offers some affordable opportunities for businesses to rent.
The downtown area has been moving in a good direction, Grooms stated. With more businesses operating out of first-floor spaces, he said he thinks that may encourage businesses to expand their hours, something the DDA would like to see.
Creating a grant program would add another feature the DDA could highlight when recommending that businesses consider locating downtown, Grooms said.
Hawley also thinks downtown is experiencing some success.
“Downtown is doing really well even in what I think is a terrible economy,” he said.
Having a grant program focusing on helping businesses take care of small exterior work might also have ripple effects, Hawley said, noting that he thinks businesses tend to invest in improvements when they see their neighbors doing so.
Hawley encouraged the board to think of some priority projects the proposed grant program could focus on. He suggested things like sidewalk improvements, new murals, ADA-accessible ramps or exterior lighting as some things to consider.
The board did not vote on creating the new grant program but seemed open to the idea. If the program were to launch in the short term, the DDA would need to amend its budget for the fiscal year as it did not allocate money for such a program in its new budget.
