Wilmington Chamber of Commerce officials approved a resolution Wednesday supporting the creation of a special tax district in downtown’s Central Business District, a proposal that will be the subject of a public hearing before the Wilmington City Council next week.

The chamber’s announcement described a Municipal Service District as a tool that provides a way to fund extra service or projects within a designated area with money generated by an assessment on property owners within that district.

The proposal city officials will consider, developed by Wilmington Downtown Inc., would levy an additional tax of 7 cents per $100 of tax value on CBD property owners, resulting in an annual budget of a little more than $275,000 to fund extra security, cleanliness, economic development and other programs for downtown. That amounts to $175 a year for an owner whose property has a tax value of $250,000 or $700 a year on a property worth $1 million. 

As a condition of the organization's support, the chamber board stipulated in its resolution that the MSD should be managed by Wilmington Downtown Inc., the organization that has led the effort to creat an MSD and is the "most capable organization" to manage it.

“There are 56 MSDs in North Carolina that charge assessments, and we learned more about the effectiveness of the tool on our recent InterCity Visit to Richmond,” said chamber Chairman Mitch Lamm in Wednesday’s chamber news release. “Creation of an MSD was included in the Vision 2020 Plan adopted in 2004, but has never been implemented. With the significant growth in housing, hotels, businesses and visitors to our downtown, it’s become an even greater issue to increase safety and general attractiveness that could have a negative effect on business.”

Efforts to collect signatures on petitions seeking a referendum on the MSD proposal, started by some downtown business and property owners who oppose the measure, ended this summer when state lawmakers approved legislation that requires a significantly higher number of signatures on such petitions. The legislation was introduced by local representatives in the state House and Senate and did not require Gov. Pat McCrory’s signature.

For Justin LaNasa, a downtown property and business owner who continues to voice his opposition to the proposed MSD, working against the proposal now seems like a lost cause, despite a public hearing scheduled next week at City Hall.

“There’s absolutely nothing that can be done other than voice our opinions at the Oct. 18 meeting, which we’ll all be there, I’m sure,” LaNasa said Wednesday. “But it’s just a waste of breath because they’ll listen and then they’ll strike the gavel and do what they want just like they always have been.”

The public hearing on the proposed MSD will be held at the regularly scheduled city council meeting that begins 6:30 p.m. Oct. 18 at City Hall, 102 N. Third St. If the council OKs the proposal after the public hearing next week, a second reading is scheduled for Nov. 1.

If the proposal gets the green light from the council at that point, the MSD would be established and made effective as of the beginning of the next fiscal year, July 1, according to city documents.

“The process of advertising for proposals from outside agencies who may wish to bid to manage and provide services to the district could begin,” the documents say.

The chamber’s announcement Wednesday said an MSD will enhance, rather than replace, existing services.

LaNasa and other opponents have said such services, particularly safety, don’t need to be enhanced, saying the concept of MSDs came into popularity at a time when cell phones were not prevalent.

“It’s an outdated dinosaur that needs to be put to rest,” he said.

In addition to the legislation concerning Wilmington petitions for referendums, another bill introduced by Rep. Ted David, (R-New Hanover) and signed in June by McCrory allows property owners to opt out of MSDs if they feel the services provided don’t benefit their properties and a city council agrees with them.

The chamber's resolution Wednesday said downtown Wilmington has added about 60 retail and bar/nightclub establishments since 2011 and 120 hotel rooms, with four more hotels having announced plans to add 528 more rooms. The resolution also said new projects are poised to add 882 new housing units to the downtown area, an increase of 51 percent since 2010.