DOVER, Del. --- It's not uncommon to police cadets pounding the pavement in Downtown Dover, providing an extra level of security in the city's central commercial corridor.

"If there's somebody out there that makes you feel uncomfortable --- they tell them 'move along and go somewhere else' and we're very appreciative of that," said Tom Smith, who manages the Delaware Store on South State Street.

Dover City Manager Donna Mitchell said on Wednesday during a Downtown Dover Partnership meeting the cadets are popular among downtown business owners, but expanding the program may require the city to expand the amount of revenue it collects from downtown businesses.

Mitchell said she plans to propose bringing back the Business Improvement District tax, which would be used to help pay for either a portion or the entirety of the $150,000 cost associated with giving cadets 29 hours of employment each week.

The tax was zeroed out by council for 2017 fiscal year, but not totally removed from city code.

"My proposal to council would be to put the rate back in there. One option I have is the old rate, which raises about $50,000," Mitchell said.

City Council President Tim Slavin said during a Downtown Dover Partnership meeting this week he would be opposed to the idea and thinks it sends the wrong message to downtown business owners.

Instead, Slavin said the city ought to dip into existing revenue sources before restoring the BID tax.

"The optics are terrible. It's unfair. If we want to fund special things for the downtown, then let's fund them. We already collect taxes for that," he said.

Arita Warren, the owner of Tresses Hair Studio on Loockerman Street, agreed with Slavin's assessment of funding public safety downtown.

"You definitely don't want to just put that responsibility on the business owners," she said. "That should be the overall responsibility of the city."