Belleville’s Downtown District BIA (Business Improvement Area) set its 2023 budget Tuesday but with an unusual twist.
In most cases members of associations or councils look to decrease budgets but in this case BIA members voted to increase
the spending plan for the year.
Downtown District Executive Director Luisa Sorentino presented the budget with a 3% increase but most members agreed to increase that
to 4% to allow for another $3,000 investment in special events.
The events budget as presented had been cut by that amount. That category’s budget will now sit at $45,000, the same as in 2021.
This year’s budget will include a $10,000 investment in a parking review.
The approved budget total for 2023 was $307,450.
Meanwhile, 78% of street level businesses in the Downtown District were occupied this year. That’s the same percentage as in 2021 and there were 201 active members of the BIA, also the same as in the year before.
This year the highest weekly foot traffic count was 5,429 which was almost 400 lower than the year before.
A BIA members’ survey indicated that the top four areas of concern were public perception of the downtown, safety/security, parking, and a need to
increase pedestrian traffic.
The Welcoming Streets Program in the downtown, which sees a trained staff member counselling and otherwise assisting the homeless and other people in distress has been in demand. In the past year BIA members made over 280 direct calls to Welcoming Streets staff for assistance.
Wrapping up the meeting was an upbeat presentation from the Executive Director of the Bay of Quinte Regional Marketing Board Dug Stevenson.
The tourism business in the Quinte region is looking good according to data gleaned from several organizations.
Hotel stays in our region were up 7.7% from 2021, higher than Kingston’s or the national average.
More importantly, hotel stays this summer in the Quinte area were up almost 5% from the summer of 2019, when COVID-19 wasn’t a concern.
And the Marketing Board is providing $45,000 in marketing support to the Downtown District this year, up by $7,000 from the year before.
