The Essence of Athens project is funded by a “sunsetting” fund, Mayor Paul Wiehl said.
When it comes to making the city unique, Athens City Council has a plan: the Essence of Athens.
But Athens city officials could soon be seeking a new source of funding for the plan, which required $2,500 alone to be created. Right now, that new source of funding is unclear.
Essence of Athens-related ordinances have suggested purchasing vinyl wraps for 10 Uptown switch boxes in an $11,000 project, painting murals on the city’s wastewater treatment plant clarifiers, and the placement of Athens blocks in West Union Street sidewalks.
But the project isn’t funded through taxpayer dollars, Athens Mayor Paul Wiehl said.
Instead, the money is received through the Athens Enhancement Fund.
“The whole purpose (for the fund) is for academic advancement and cultural advancement,” Wiehl said.
Funding for Athens Enhancement stems from the Payment in Lieu of Taxes program for the Station and Depot streets properties, Athens City Auditor Kathy Hecht said.
Wiehl said PILOT was a federal tax incentive plan implemented in Athens in the mid-1980s, and that before the fund, the areas around the Station and Depot streets properties were neglected.
The plan encouraged businesses like Athens Uncorked, 14 Station St., and Lui Lui, 8 Station St., to move into the area by offering tax abatement, Wiehl said. In exchange, the city received federal funding to recoup the losses on these taxes.
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Since then, Wiehl said those funds have provided the city with a comfortable safety net.
“It has given us a small war chest,” he said.
That “war chest” isn’t tax exempt, though, Hecht said.
“Part of what we receive is forwarded to the Athens City Schools,” Hecht said. “We pay property taxes to the county.”
According to auditor’s office records, the fund began in 2014 with $179,000, though a sizeable amount of that went to the Athens City School District.
About $59,000 went toward “special projects.”
These funds will “sunset soon,” Wiehl said.
Wiehl said he was unsure how the city would finance the Essence of Athens projects when the fund inevitably runs out. At that point, Wiehl said the city would likely turn to money from the tourism fund to continue its developments.
Councilman Steve Patterson, D-at large, said council plans to use the money soon.
“We know that we have money in that account,” Patterson said. “Now’s the time to start using it.”
City Planner Paul Logue said the city worked with Designing Local, a company based in Columbus, to create the Essence of Athens plan, which was awarded “outstanding small town special project plan” by the American Planning Association’s Small Town and Rural Division earlier this month.
The 159-page proposal was released last July and offered suggestions for implementing “Athens-inspired” design throughout the city.
“It’s supposed to give us guidance to where we want to go in terms of branding,” Wiehl said.
Recommendations in the plan ranged from painting over crosswalks and the city’s parking garage on East Washington Street with various designs to installing new benches and lighting fixtures.
“Arts lend themselves to the health of any community,” Patterson said.
Patterson said the project “keeps Athens unique and drives tourism.”
The plan was not meant to stop at city projects, Wiehl said.
He said citizens and businesses could also draw inspiration from the plan to start projects of their own.
“It’s nothing that the city has to come up and run with on their own,” Wiehl said.
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