University Times

Pitt, UPMC, area businesses join to improve Oakland

Pitt, UPMC Health System and some 90 business and property owners have joined forces to improve Oakland.

By forming the Oakland Business Improvement District (OBID), the groups become part of a legally sanctioned authority in which property owners in a commercial area agree to assess themselves additional taxes to pay for levels of cleaning service beyond wh at the city provides.

The city, in turn, agrees to maintain its existing services, such as street cleaning and trash collection.

The goal of the initiative is to enhance and revitalize a 12-block business district roughly spanning Forbes and Fifth Avenues, from the Boulevard of the Allies west to Bigelow Boulevard. Three categories of service are intended: appearance and maintenanc e; marketing and promotion; and advocacy and safety promotion.

The OBID 31-member board of directors held its first public meeting April 29. At the meeting, Lori Kumar, currently operations director of the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, was named director of the OBID, effective May 24.

The group also elected its first officers: Michael Chizmar, chair; Dennis McManus, vice chair; Edward Seserko, treasurer, and Carol Crum, secretary. McManus is Pitt assistant vice chancellor for Governmental Relations; the other officers are business lead ers in Oakland.

According to a fact sheet provided by officers of OBID, the organization expects to raise about $425,000 annually through donations and self-assessed taxes on taxable properties. Pitt and UPMC are donating $50,000 each. Most of the remainder of the money comes from the self-assessed tax of up to 15.5 mills per year from businesses in the OBID area. In addition to its lump-sum donation, the University will pay about $23,000 in tax for its taxable properties; UPMC Health System will pay about $40,000 in add itional taxes.

The money will go to finance the hiring of a cleaning contractor (about $200,000); marketing and image improvement ($60,000); and advocacy and safety promotion ($133,000). OBID is budgeting for an estimated $12,000 in uncollectable assessments (5 percent of the total taxes) and is planning to carry over about $11,000 of the revenue toward second-year expenses.

The cleaning contractor, expected to begin work in June, will provide a visible, uniformed presence in the district daily.

At the inaugural public meeting, the board also discussed plans for a more visible police presence by petitioning the city for a "beat cop," and advocating better enforcement of loitering and panhandling restrictions. The board discussed other beautificat ion measures such as removal of advertising fliers and graffiti.

OBID is chartered for five years, subject to renewal, and carries a so-called "sunset clause," allowing for prior dissolution if the majority of voting members agree. Annual budgets need the approval of Pittsburgh City Council.

The new organization was started by the Oakland Business and Civic Association and the Oakland Planning and Development Corp. (OPDC) and was adopted by Pittsburgh City Council ordinance on March 2.

Susan Golomb, executive director of OPDC and ex officio member of OBID's board, said there are more than 1,200 business improvement districts in the U.S., including the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, formed in 1994.

–Peter Hart