Timing is everything, or so the saying goes.

Almost four years ago, a proposal to raise taxes in downtown Wilmington’s Central Business District to fund extra services in the area met with some vocal opposition from residents, businesses and property owners.

Fast forward to 2014, and downtown stakeholders are considering the idea again. At 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Coastline Convention Center, 501 Nutt St., those interested in learning more about a potential Municipal Service District, also called a Business Improvement District, can hear the results of a property owner survey on the subject from Wilmington Downtown Inc.  

Ed Wolverton, president and CEO of WDI, said the organization had received 111 responses to the questionnaire, which asked owners whether they’d support a service district and, if so, what they’d like their additional tax dollars to fund.

In August, while presenting a new plan to explore the possibility of an MSD, Wolverton told city officials the environment is different than that of 2011.

“The economy certainly has improved,” Wolverton said Tuesday, elaborating on the statement. “There’s also an education process that unfolds as people learn more about the capabilities of these districts.”

Wednesday’s meeting is part of that process. Tom Harris, owner of Front Street Brewery at 9 N. Front St. and a member of a WDI steering panel on the MSD, plans to be there. In 2011, Harris was one of the property/business owners listed at the end of an open letter titled “WDI’s Municipal Services District Plan: It’s Just Plain Wrong,” but he wasn’t opposed to the MSD itself, he said Tuesday.

“I absolutely support the right version of an MSD,” Harris said, which in his opinion, means a district with a board composed of people who are paying the extra tax.

In most cases when it comes to MSDs, elected officials empower “a stakeholders committee to select and direct the extra programs and services,” according to WDI materials explaining this year's MSD proposal. In 2011, opponents felt taxpayers had been left out of coming up with the plan and would also be left out of spending decisions, the open letter said.

Along with wanting taxpayer representation on a district committee, Harris said some tenants of downtown properties could potentially be paying the tax as part of their lease agreements and therefore should also have some say in recommending what services the money might pay for.

One of the enhancements needed, in Harris' opinion, is more marketing dollars, Harris said, a belief based on personal experience. Harris said the marketing campaign that has been in place for Front Street Brewery in the past several years has doubled its sales volume.

“I think that obviously most of the businesses downtown can’t afford to spend the kind of money that I’ve been able to spend on marketing one business, but if we all pool some money through the Municipal Service District, then we can promote an effective marketing campaign for downtown as a whole,” he said.

Realtor and broker Todd Toconis, of Town & Country Real Estate, is a downtown business and property owner who still, as he did in 2011, opposes a tax levied solely on Central Business District property owners to support an MSD.

“I don’t NOT support a Municipal Service District; I think the idea’s a great idea. I don’t think the cost to support it should fall on the backs of the property owners in the Central Business District alone,” Toconis said. “It’s not just downtown that uses the downtown services. Everybody in New Hanover County comes to downtown Wilmington. If it was to be supported by a tax base, it should be countywide.”

The latest MSD proposal is still in the planning and research stage, officials have said. The first step, according to WDI materials on the proposal, is for owners, if they want an MSD, to reach a consensus about what services they want or need. Next, the MSD Task Force is expected to develop a business plan that would include tentative boundaries for the MSD, improvements and services proposed, the rate of assessment needed to fund the enhancements and an explanation of a governance structure.

If property owners agree to a plan, City Council would be asked to establish the district, with action potentially taking place by early summer 2015, according to WDI.