Make no mistake a yes vote on #255 is a vote to proceed with a BID, and the people of Rochester do not have enough information to give council informed consent to be taxed. Our volunteers polled Rochesterians online and went door to door to small businesses throughout the footprint of the proposed district to…

REMINDER: THIS CITY BELONGS TO EVERYONE WHO LIVES, WORKS & PLAYS IN IT.The entire community must be authentically and substantially represented in the planning and implementation of community initiatives. This is not what has transpired. A BID would not have been the vehicle to genuine, long-term, and shared vitality if it had. A BID is…

AUTHOR’S NOTE: The community deserves to have access to information about how they are governed, taxed and how their tax dollars are spent. This is our current understanding of BID structure and formation. NGL, it’s pretty dry, and full of acronyms. We tried to simplify it as much as possible. If you have a correction…

Does it belong to the people who live, work and play there? Or does it only belong to the people who own property? We live in a representative democracy where citizens elect people to make choices on their behalf. You have the ability to access information, contact council, speak to council, view public meetings and…

A Business Improvement District (or “BID”) is a designated area of a community that has a board. This board is granted powers by City Council. These powers were entrusted to City Council by you, the voter. The Rochester Downtown Development Corporation (RDDC) has access to nearly $5,000,000 in public and private funding to “Show what a BID can…