Downtown Development District Executive Director Davis Rhorer this morning presented the organization’s 2021 budget request, which at $812,230 is 6.7% higher than this year’s $761,320 plan.
The increase is based on this year’s actual income, which was over $800,000, while balancing potential future financial impacts from the novel coronavirus, according to Rhorer. The agency is currently on track to spend $838,482 this year.
“The finance department wants us to budget conservatively because of COVID,” Rhorer says.
The organization also has a more than $500,000 fund balance, which it plans to partially use on a few new projects that align with downtown’s master plan. Those projects include improvements to Riverfront Plaza and to the downtown interstate gateway as well as landscaping and pedestrian improvements, such as visitor kiosks, on River Road. Rhorer says DDD will also pursue federal grants to help fund the projects.
The DDD Board of Commissioners will vote on the budget at next month’s meeting, on Nov. 10.
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