Frequently Asked Questions

About the BID

What is a Business Improvement District (BID)?
A Business Improvement District is a locally controlled tool that allows stakeholders within a defined area to collectively fund services, improvements and programs that benefit the district. In Nevada, the Las Vegas Arts District BID would be established as a Neighborhood Improvement Project under Chapter 271 of the Nevada Revised Statutes.

Why is a BID being proposed for the Las Vegas Arts District?
The Arts District has experienced significant growth and change in recent years. The BID is intended to give the district dedicated resources and a unified voice to address priorities including public safety, cleanliness, homelessness, public-space improvements, business support, marketing and the overall visitor and resident experience. The goal is to strengthen what makes the Arts District distinctive while helping guide its future.

What area would the BID cover?
The proposed district is roughly bounded by Bonneville Avenue to the north, parcels fronting the east side of Las Vegas Boulevard to the east, Wyoming Avenue to the south and the railroad tracks to the west. Click the “Boundaries” tab to see a map of the area.

Services & Benefits

What would the BID actually do?
The BID could invest in five major areas: public safety; enhanced cleaning and maintenance; placemaking and public-realm improvements; business support and economic development; and marketing and activation. Specific annual services would be determined by the BID Board based on community feedback, priorities and available resources.

How would the BID improve public safety?
Potential investments include dedicated security patrols or ambassadors, coordination with Metro and the Las Vegas Marshals, outreach with homeless service providers, a non-emergency district hotline, safety escorts, security cameras, improved lighting and Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design strategies. BIDs across the country has seen significant improvement in public safety issues by creating a safety team that is dedicated to proactively addressing problem areas and being the eyes and ears on the street.

What would the BID do about homelessness?
The BID is not a homeless-services provider, but it can help create a more consistent, coordinated response. The management plan calls for working with the City, homeless service providers, Metro and the Marshals to engage individuals, connect them with services and ensure encampment areas are cleaned after individuals are housed.

What cleaning services could the BID provide?
Enhanced services could include regular trash and bulk-item removal, pressure washing, street-furniture cleaning, additional trash receptacles and emptying, weed removal, graffiti abatement and special cleaning projects. These services would supplement—not replace—existing City services.

Would the BID invest in beautification and public spaces?
Yes. Potential investments include gateway and wayfinding signage, trees and landscaping, greenspace, public art and mural care, banners, seasonal décor and lighting, pedestrian amenities and other improvements that make the district easier and more enjoyable to navigate. The BID could also advocate for larger City infrastructure investments.

How would businesses benefit?
Beyond safety and cleaning, the BID could provide district-wide marketing, events and activations, visitor maps and digital tools, vacancy activation, business outreach and support programs, parking coordination and economic-development initiatives. The goal is to increase foot traffic, consumer spending and opportunities for businesses and creative enterprises throughout the district.

Is this primarily a tourism or nightlife initiative?
No. The BID is designed to serve the Arts District as a neighborhood where people live, work, create and visit. Residents would benefit from many of the same investments—including safety, cleaning, lighting, landscaping, public art, walkability and better-maintained public spaces.

Assessments & Cost

Who pays for the BID?
Property owners within the BID boundary are assessed based on property type and assessed value. Commercial, apartment-building, nonprofit and governmental property owners have a maximum rate of 6.5 mills, or $6.50 per $1,000 of assessed value. Residential condo/household property owners have a maximum rate of 3.25 mills, or $3.25 per $1,000 of assessed value.

Is the assessment based on market value?
No. The BID assessment is applied to the property's assessed value, not its market value. Assessed value is approximately 35% of actual value. For example, a residential property with a $1 million actual value and $350,000 assessed value would have an annual BID assessment of $1,137.50 at 3.25 mills.

Can BID assessment rates increase?
The rates established in the management plan are maximum rates for the life of the BID. They cannot be increased above those caps. The Board may lower the rates during the annual budgeting process, but never beyond the approved maximum.

Is there a cap on how much one property can be assessed?
Yes. An individual parcel's assessed value is capped at $5 million for purposes of calculating the BID assessment. Any assessed value above $5 million on that parcel would not be subject to the BID levy.

Why do vacant or underutilized properties pay a different rate?
The management plan recognizes that underutilized properties can create additional cleaning, security and maintenance demands while also benefiting from improvements to the surrounding district. A minimum-utilization standard therefore applies. Underutilized commercial properties would be assessed at 12.025 mills on land value only, and underutilized residential properties at 4.875 mills on land value only.

Could a business tenant end up paying the assessment through its lease?
Potentially. Depending on the terms of a commercial lease, a property owner may be able to pass BID assessments through as an operating expense. Businesses should review their individual lease terms.

Budget & Accountability

How much money would the BID have to invest?
The management plan estimates a Year 1 operating budget of approximately $1.93 million, including assessment revenues and estimated other contributions. The largest proposed allocation is public safety at 35%, followed by marketing and activation at 20%.

Who decides how the money is spent?
The BID would be governed by a nonprofit organization and Board of Directors representing district stakeholders. Each year, the Board would determine the work plan and budget based on district needs and stakeholder feedback.

How will we know whether the BID is working?
The management plan calls for measurable performance metrics rather than simply tracking activities. These include safety and crime data, cleanliness measures, marketing reach, foot traffic, visitation and consumer-spending metrics.

What financial oversight is required?
The BID would provide monthly and annual financial and program-delivery reporting. Each year it must also present its previous-year financials and accomplishments, proposed budget and upcoming work plan to City Council at a public hearing. Annual audits may also be requested by City Council.

City Partnership & Services

Does the BID replace services the City already provides?
No. The BID is designed to add to—not replace—City services and investment in the Arts District.

As part of BID formation, the City is required to enter into a Base Level of Services Agreement identifying the services it currently provides within the district and committing to continue those services after the BID is formed. The draft agreement identifies approximately $15 million annually in existing City programs and services within the proposed BID area, not including all staff time or certain special investments.

That means BID assessments would fund enhanced services above this existing City baseline, rather than paying for services the City would otherwise discontinue.

What services is the City already providing in the Arts District?
The proposed Base Level of Services Agreement documents a substantial range of existing City services and investments. These include street sweeping and alley maintenance; trash and debris removal; street, traffic signal, bike lane and crosswalk maintenance; street and festoon lighting; graffiti removal in the public right-of-way; tree and landscape maintenance; public art and cultural programming; public safety and crime-prevention efforts; economic-development and business incentive programs; parking investments; planning, permitting and code enforcement; and communications and neighborhood programs.

The BID would provide an additional layer of focused, district-level services while also helping identify problems, communicate priorities and coordinate more effectively with City departments.

Is the City contributing financially to the BID, too?
That is part of the proposed City partnership. The current proposal recommends that the City voluntarily contribute for City-owned properties within the BID at the same applicable assessment rates used for other properties. Based on the properties currently identified, the estimated first-year City contribution would be approximately $22,533, subject to reassessment and the timing of BID adoption. If the City acquires additional property within the BID, the proposal calls for those properties to participate as well.

Importantly, this contribution is in addition to the City's continued base services and the enhanced partnerships and investments proposed if the BID is formed.

What additional commitments is the City proposing if the BID is formed?
The proposed partnership goes beyond maintaining existing services. City departments and the BID would work together on a range of district priorities, including:

• Safety: Direct coordination between the City's Problem-Oriented Policing team and BID safety ambassadors, along with expanded Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) assessments in priority areas.

• Cleaning and maintenance: Coordination on bulk-trash removal, graffiti, streetlights, pavement markings, crosswalks and other maintenance issues, with BID ambassadors helping identify and report problems.

• Wayfinding and district identity: The City has proposed waiving certain permitting fees and covering installation costs for BID-funded wayfinding signage in appropriate locations, as well as partnering on additional banners and festoon lighting.

• Business and economic development: Enhanced access to business security, tenant improvement and commercial improvement programs; implementation of a ground-floor activation strategy; small-business support; and collaboration on district economic-development initiatives.

• Parking and mobility: Partnership on implementation of an Arts District parking management plan, employee parking and validation programs, evaluation of a district-wide valet program and exploration of an Arts District circulator or micro-transit service.

• Planning and placemaking: Funding and partnership on an Arts District Master Plan, aligning official Arts District boundaries with the BID, exploring 3rd Street activation, improving coordination around development and code enforcement, and supporting historic preservation.

• Arts and culture: Proposed City support includes funding for murals and protective coatings, continued public-art investment and additional funding for BID-led cultural programming.

• Trees and landscaping: The City would continue managing trees and landscaping while coordinating directly with the BID on priority areas, including addressing empty planters and maintaining new plantings.

How will the BID and City work together day to day?
One of the benefits of forming the BID is having a dedicated organization that can coordinate directly with City departments on behalf of the district.

For example, BID staff and ambassadors could monitor streetlights, signage, graffiti, code issues, trash and other conditions and report them through an established City/BID process. The City and BID could maintain a prioritized list of maintenance needs, share permitting and development information, coordinate public-safety efforts and use City data to track economic conditions and the impact of investments.

In other words, the BID isn't intended to create a parallel City government. It creates a dedicated partner whose job is to stay focused on the Arts District every day.

So what changes if the BID is formed?
The simplest way to think about it is:

Today: The City provides municipal services and makes investments in the Arts District as part of its broader responsibilities across Las Vegas.

With a BID: Those City services continue, while the BID adds privately funded enhanced services and gives the Arts District a dedicated organization to coordinate with the City, identify priorities, leverage additional investment and hold both partners accountable for delivering results.

The proposed City partnership is intended to increase—not decrease—the overall resources being invested in the Arts District. As the City support proposal explains, the goal is coordinated service delivery in which the City and BID collectively invest beyond the City's current commitment.

Governance

Who will govern the BID?
A new nonprofit organization would govern the BID through a stakeholder Board of Directors. The management plan calls for representation from commercial and apartment property owners, business owners, residential owners/residents, nonprofit ratepayers and artists, with consideration given to geographic representation and diversity. More information can be found on the governance tab.

Does the City control the BID?
No. Day-to-day operations would be managed by the BID organization rather than the City. City Council does have important oversight responsibilities, including reviewing the annual budget and work plan and holding a public hearing. City representatives and other public-sector partners would also participate on the BID Board as non-voting, ex-officio members.

How long do Board members serve?
Board terms are three years, with a limit of two consecutive terms. After two consecutive terms, a member must remain off the governing body for at least one year before being eligible for reappointment.

Formation & Future of the BID

How is the BID formed?
Formation requires petitions from property owners representing more than 50% of the total assessed value within the proposed district. Once that threshold is reached, petitions are submitted to the City. City Council then reviews the proposed plan, holds a public hearing and may establish the BID by ordinance.

Do business owners who lease their space get to sign the formation petition?
The petition threshold described in the management plan is based on property-owner support and assessed property value. Business tenants therefore do not determine the statutory petition threshold unless they also own property in the district. Their participation and input are nevertheless part of the BID's proposed governance and business-support structure and an informal “petition of support” from business owners will be circulated during the petitioning process.

How long would the BID last?
The initial term is 10 years. In Year 9, the Board must assess the BID's performance and submit a proposal regarding continuation to City Council. City Council would hold a public hearing before deciding whether to extend the district.

Can the BID be dissolved?
Yes. Property owners representing more than 50% of the district's total assessed value may petition City Council for dissolution. City Council can also initiate dissolution proceedings if the BID fails to submit an operating plan and budget for two successive years.