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Upcoming Meetings Reminder

Upcoming Meetings Reminder

Just a brief reminder about upcoming meetings:

  • The North Monroe Business Association meets at 6pm on Wednesday, June 27 at Petunia’s Marketplace. We’ll detail what’s on the agenda closer to the date, although it will almost certainly include planning for the proposed July “classic cars” event.

  • There is no July meeting for the Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council. The next time the EGNC will meet is at the neighborhood potluck on Wednesday, August 8 at 6pm. More info on the potluck will be posted in July.

  • The Neighborhood Planning stakeholders will meet on Wednesday, July 11 at 6pm at Corbin Senior Center. Although we’ll post more about the agenda as that meeting approaches, it will be dominated by prep work for the issues/solutions workshop in October. Please bring ideas and be ready to brainstorm.

If the difference between all these groups isn’t clear, don’t fret! We’ll have a post describing where they diverge and where they overlap in the near future.

Hillyard Revitalization on “Council Connection”

Hillyard Revitalization on “Council Connection”

If you’re interested in what North Monroe Revitalization might hold in store for you as well as the wider neighborhood, tune in to Council Connection tonight (June 6) at 6pm on CityCable 5.

Council Member Mike Fagan of District 1 will host the program. He’s going to be joined by several members of the Historic Hillyard Merchants Committee (representing Outlaw Café, Market Street Antiques & Collectibles, Tread Tech, and more) for a discussion of the Hillyard Downtown Revitalization Project in terms of both the challenges of execution and its success after completion.

The group won’t just be talking among themselves, either. They’ll be fielding calls from viewers during the hour-long program.

The business owners will also take time to discuss the Hillyard Mobile Network, a grassroots marketing effort that entices shoppers to their area with special deals and discounts. Now that it’s been pioneered elsewhere in Spokane, it’s something that N. Monroe business owners might like to consider.

More info about tonight’s Council Connection program is available here.

And remember that you don’t have to content yourself with watching local cable programs — you personally can help shape the course of the North Monroe Revitalization Project. Get in touch by filling out the contact form on this page (select “Other” as the subject).

Volunteer Opportunities

Volunteer Opportunities

One of the most daunting things about volunteering to help among a large and disparate group like Emerson-Garfield neighborhood is knowing where you’ll fit in.

What opportunities are available to you? Where can you make the biggest contribution? Where will your support have the most impact?

As a resident, you can:

  • Join the Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council. The EGNC meets just once a month, and simply being there and offering input is all that’s asked of you. You’re able to voice your concerns, help decide how neighborhood money is spent, and get to know the folks who live a few streets away. It doesn’t matter if you own or rent your home.
  • Become a stakeholder in the E-G planning process. That “stakeholder” part isn’t quite as weighty as it sounds. All it means is that you’ll participate and help represent the residents of Emerson-Garfield as we work to outline the future of the neighborhood. What we plan now will affect the neighborhood for years to come.
  • Lead or support a sub-committee. Concerts in Corbin Park. Summer movie nights at Emerson Park. Annual neighborhood cleanup. Helping the local schools and businesses align themselves more closely with the residents. Maintaining this blog, our Facebook page, and e-newsletters. Working with the city to improving our parks and traffic. All these things don’t come about by themselves — they need people like you to make them happen.
  • Shop at neighborhood businesses. We lost two great businesses — The Chill Spot and Sparky’s Firehouse Subs — because they didn’t see enough patronage. So instead of going to Starbucks, try Caffe Delicio or Chairs Coffee. Make a point to visit Tossed and Found’s annual Barn Sale or drop by Eye Candy Antiques. Pick up some delicious, locally made organic salsa at Petunia’s.

As a business or property owner, you can:

  • Be a member of the North Monroe Business Association. The NMBA is the best forum for you to network with other business/property owners in the neighborhood. By working together, you can combat problems like graffiti and break-ins, and you can create a more vibrant business climate through street fairs, art walks, block sales, and more.
  • Attend Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council meetings. You might not live here, but your contribution to the neighborhood is something we recognize and value. Your participation and input is just as important as residents’.
  • Become a stakeholder in the E-G planning process. No, stakeholders don’t have to be residents — participation in the planning process can come from anyone who has a vested interest in the neighborhood. And keep in mind that this planning has the potential to affect your bottom line far into the future.
  • Support neighborhood events. By sponsoring or lending your business’s resources to E-G events, you can do good for the community, bring potential customers to our neighborhood, and increase your profile. For example: Step up to support concerts in Corbin Park, help cover the licensing fee for our summer movie nights, or pitch in with the annual neighborhood cleanup.

No matter what your background or where your interests lie, remember: You’re not anonymous. You can make a difference, even by volunteering for just an hour or two a month. But if you don’t become involved, you can’t help to guide and improve things.

And if you think you’re too busy to volunteer, think again. Some of our most active volunteers include parents of newborn babies and young children, “graveyard shift” policemen, owners of multiple businesses and properties, unemployed professionals who are searching for work, members of three or more volunteer organizations, and many other folks who are juggling work, family, friends, and hobbies. They make time because they know Emerson-Garfield has the potential to be the best neighborhood in Spokane.

For more info about what’s on offer and where you might be needed, get in touch with us using the short contact form on this page. Select “Volunteer Opportunities” as the subject.

What’s a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District?

What’s a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District?

Emerson-Garfield is part of Spokane’s West Quadrant Tax Increment Financing – or TIF – District. What exactly is a TIF district? And what does it have to do with our neighborhood?

Simply put, a TIF district is a pledge from Spokane city government that it will pay for projects that will upgrade neighborhoods using future property taxes. The idea is that such improvements will increase overall property values, especially properties located within the district, and thus increase Spokane’s overall property tax revenue.

Please note that simply being located within a TIF district does not automatically increase someone’s property taxes. Each property located within a TIF district continues to be assessed individually.

Spokane created the West Quadrant TIF District in 2007. It is one of three TIF districts created by city officials. The West Quadrant TIF District includes all of the Kendall Yards development being built on the bluff overlooking the Spokane River, part of the Riverside Neighborhood next to the river, much of the West Central Neighborhood, and Monroe St. within the West Central and Emerson-Garfield Neighborhoods.

In 2007, the West Quadrant TIF district had an assessed value of $198 million, which became the district’s base valuation.

The amount of property tax that has been collected within the district each year above the 2007 property tax collected is called a tax increment. Three-quarters of each year’s West Quadrant tax increment that isn’t specifically for schools and state government will be used as seed money for approved projects within the District.

One of those approved projects is the planned revitalization of the North Monroe business district from the bridge north to Cora St., which is the north boundary of the Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood.

Other approved TIF projects are the installation of streets, sewer lines and other infrastructure within the Kendall Yards development, the extension of the Centennial Trail west from Monroe St., continuing streetscape improvements along West Broadway Ave., and improvements to the Spokane County courthouse campus.

No one expects that there will be enough tax increment collected to be able to fully pay for any of these projects. Think of the increment rather as being seed money that will attract additional money from private and public funding sources for continuing improvements within TIF neighborhoods, including Emerson-Garfield.

The West Quadrant TIF district tax increment will be collected for 25 years, after which the district will be dissolved. The hope and expectation is that by the time the district goes away somewhere in the neighborhood of $4.5 million will have been collected and that will have gone a long way toward revitalizing our part of Spokane.

(This article was written by Emerson-Garfield resident John Vlahovich, who is chair of the West Quadrant TIF District Neighborhood Project Advisory Committee.)