For 30 years, a vast majority of commercial property owners in downtown Cedar Rapids have said “yes” to paying extra taxes to improve the look of downtown. And the agreement is now up for another 10-year renewal.

The idea is called a “SSMID.” That stands for Self-Supporting Municipal Improvement District. And the extra taxing district in downtown Cedar Rapids needs to be renewed by summer to continue.

The Cedar Rapids SSMID basically covers the core downtown area. At the last renewal, in 2007, it expanded to cover parts of the west side of the Cedar Rapids including the area now known as Kingston Village. And continuing the plan for another ten years depends on the feelings of exactly 186 property owners who represent about a quarter billion dollars’ worth of buildings in the core district.

Fred Timko is one of those owners and is also the current president of the SSMID board that oversees the taxing district. Timko, and the others, pay an extra seven to eight percent on their commercial property tax bills every year. The money goes to improve the entire downtown and Timko says, speaking as an owner, he sure he’s gotten good value from paying extra taxes.

“I don’t think we’d have anything close to what we have downtown without the SSMID—particularly the overhaul of the streetscape and the sidewalks,” Timko said.

The SSMID currently brings in nearly $500,000 per year and the taxing district was originally created in 1986 to help finance a big change in the city’s downtown appearance. The downtown beautification and keeping up with repairs are things many visitors notice.

But SSMID money has contributed in ways not so apparent.

For instance, it was money originally in the SSMID budget that launched the very popular downtown farmers market programs about 10 years ago. A separate group now oversees that operation.

Last fall, it was also SSMID money that helped pay cleanup costs for removing sandbags put up downtown to prevent flood damage.

Casey Prince, the new Cedar Rapids Downtown Executive Director, says it won’t be a hard sell to convince property owners to support another 10 years of SSMID funding.

“There have been enough successes over the years that I think everyone sees a very bright future if we continue with the SSMID,” Prince said.

While all property owners inside the district, including those owning housing units, can have a say on continuing the SSMID the tax only applies to commercial and not residential buildings.

Board members say they plan to continue “nuts and bolts” efforts to improve the look of downtown such as grants that help owners fix up the exterior of buildings. But beyond that, they want to work on attractions, events and other features that give people a reason to come live, work or play downtown.

As a renewal, the SSMID board needed to get owners representing at least 25 percent of the total property value in the area to agree to continue the extra tax. So far, board members have received renewal agreements from 69 percent with more replies continuing the trickle in.

The Cedar Rapids city council is expected to approve the downtown SSMID renewal in the coming weeks.