Downtown biz group charts next steps: full-time staff, event engine, modest levy increases
By Brandi Makuski
STEVENS POINT — The Downtown Business Improvement District rolled out a brass-tacks roadmap at its annual town hall on Sept. 23 at Mid-State Technical College—naming a new executive director, outlining a step-up levy for BID properties, and consolidating an events engine designed to multiply private sponsorships and grants.
Formed in 2022, the BID says the rebuild is about getting out of silos: making the director role full time, adding an events/marketing coordinator, and pulling downtown programming under one roof so businesses have one place to plug in.
“We continue to take a ‘slow and steady’ approach to ensure a solid foundation,” board chair Brian Cummins of Great Northern Distilling said during his presentation. “Purposeful—we stick to our mission and serve constituents. Transparent and accountable. Fiscally responsible. Stakeholder-driven.”
Events remain a bright spot. A sold-out wine walk and a busy “Discover Downtown” anchored the calendar, with trick-or-treating (3–5 p.m. Oct. 25), the holiday parade (6 p.m. Nov. 20), and Downtown Christmas (Dec. 13) still ahead. A downloadable Downtown Resource Guide—contacts, financing tools, historic guidelines, and permitting—also went live to simplify the basics for owners and operators.
Who pays—and how much
Cummins stressed that its special assessment applies only to property owners located inside the BID boundaries. The 2025 rate is 75 cents per $1,000 of assessed value—about $187.50 this year on a $250,000 commercial parcel inside the district. Under the working plan, the levy would rise by 15 cents per $1,000 each year through 2028, topping out at $1.20—about $300 on that same property. “Increasing tax should not be viewed as a cure-all,” Cummins said. “Staff understands it must multiply that investment—in real dollars.”
To build that private support, the BID launched a Friends of Downtown account to track event revenue and sponsorships, with a goal of fully funding the events coordinator position by 2027. The near-term strategy, leaders said, is to stabilize operations now and shift more of the load to sponsorships, grants and donations over time.
Merchant feedback this summer pressed for practical fixes—clearer parking rules and enforcement, better lighting and signage, family-friendly spaces, and help recruiting more diverse retail and cultural venues.
Using its Building Opportunities On Main Street tracker, the BID said roughly 19% of downtown buildings are vacant and many would benefit from maintenance—room to grow, Cummins said, “without reducing the availability of parking.”
Two BID board seats open in 2026; applications are available on the city’s website. The board meets the first Tuesday of each month at 2:30 p.m. at the Stevens Point Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, and meetings are open to the public.