2024 Fall General Meeting Wrap Up
Thank you to those who were able to join us last week for our Fall General Meeting. It was so good to connect with all of you and it was great to see everyone connecting with each other. I wanted to ensure that our plans for 2025 at the BIA are as widely shared as possible, so I have provided the messaging from the evening below for those who were unable to join us.
Levy and Budget Info
There is a misconception that the BIA is funded by the municipality, but we are not. Although we work closely with the municipality, we are funded primarily by our members who are business and property owners in the downtown core.
The city collects a tax levy from property owners within the BIA boundaries. The amount that is paid is based on property assessment and how much square footage is commercial or industrial. That levy is distributed to the BIA quarterly. In some cases, the levy is considered a cost of doing business for a property owner, and in others it is presented as a part of the lease agreement. Additional funds are sought after by BIA staff over and above the levy through partnerships, sponsorships and grants to assist in achieving our strategic priorities.
In 2024, the levy total was just over 1.5 million. $360K in additional revenue was forecasted. Add these revenue sources together for a total budget of just under 1.9 million.
When referring to additional revenue, this comes from various sources like the municipality, federal and provincial government, private sponsorships and any BIA sales, for instance, proceeds from Pewter ornament sales, or popcorn sold at Movies in the Square.
For 2025, the Board has approved a 2.5% increase over the 2024 levy raising it to $1,571,428.
In addition, we are forecasting $642,750 in supplementary revenue which equates to just under 30% of the overall budget of $2, 214,178.
To give you an idea of how this affects your business, this increase will amount to less than a $10 per month increase on a property that has been assessed at $1,000,000. If there are several commercial businesses in the space, the increase will be split between them all. Your landlord may also decide to absorb - in part or in full - the increase into their overall cost of business.
This 2.2-million-dollar budget is evenly spread between the four departments at the BIA, Operations, Events, Marketing/Communications and Business Development. The events department secured a $200K grant from the federal government to produce Spirit of Winter in February, so their budget is slightly higher than the other departments.
To view the budget, click here.
Highlights from the Roadmap 2025
A print copy of the Roadmap 2025 is available at the office, or a digital copy is included here.
Please take time to review this document to give you a clear picture of what the BIA will be focusing on in 2025. I will highlight some items below:
Improving the Streetscape Experience
Continuing to invest and upgrade in public spaces that are attracting positive activity: Sydenham St. and Springer Market Square.
Improving signage, visual cues, and communication for both pedestrians and drivers, making it easier for people to navigate their way around the downtown core.
Maintaining sidewalk cleanliness is an ongoing challenge. In 2025, we have secured funding to elevate the Street Crew program by introducing a team lead, whose role will be to ensure our streets are ready for "showtime" each morning. Member participation in this area makes a substantial difference in maintaining the overall appeal of our city. Things like keeping façades, signage and windows clean, and keeping sidewalks clean outside of your business throughout the day. All of this significantly improves the visitor experience.
Developing Public Safety and Security Measures
We have made great strides this past year on our streets using a combination of resources:
Welcoming Streets – an outreach program designed to support our community members who are out on the street - has become a vital link between individuals and the services available to them. The pilot has been well received by our members and employees, as well as the vulnerable on our streets, and will continue into 2025, which is great news!
Enforcement is an integral part of keeping our streets safe, welcoming, and free from chaos. In March of 2024, the City of Kingston increased consistent bylaw foot patrol in the downtown core. Their presence and relationship-building has been a key part of the success of boots on the ground. Plans for 2025 are to increase coverage on weekends and into the evenings.
Some very good news: The Kingston Police budget for 2025 now includes a full-time foot patrol officer in the downtown core along with plans for additional support. This is a great win for downtown Kingston that was a direct result of several members of our community investing financially in the pilot program, the dedication of our officers, and the Clean and Safe Committee.
Welcoming Streets, Bylaw, and Police dedicated officers, as well as a biweekly meetings, with several supporting agencies, including the emergency room at the hospitals, has been the foundation for our extraordinary success in a relatively short period of time. Using this unique combination of relationship building, compassionate care, and enforcement when needed we have seen a 40% reduction of crime as compared to 2022 and 2023 in the downtown core. This trend stayed consistent throughout the tourism season and into the fall.
Sustainability and Green Initiatives
The Blooms Flowerbed project, another privately financed pilot project, has led to the city investing in the ongoing care and improvement of the flowerbeds in downtown Kingston for 2025. The first year of making a home for perennials in the flowerbeds had its challenges, but overall, it was a successful season that has laid the groundwork for the next phase of greening our streets.
We will continue to focus on active mobility in 2025 and will be looking for opportunities to engage community.
Improve Inclusivity & Accessibility
Board Director Tina Yan, owner of Midori Gifts, championed the idea of celebrating Lunar New Year downtown, a tradition that is shared by various Asian cultures. This important event will continue into 2025, providing an opportunity for the BIA to honour and showcase the rich cultural diversity of Downtown Kingston, and to support businesses owned by members of the local Asian community.
Member Communication
In 2024, we prioritized enhancing member communication by elevating the consistency, quality, and content of our newsletters.
43 Downtown Dish articles were published featuring member businesses and their owners in downtown Kingston and distributed to our database of over 5,000 subscribers and on our social media channels that boast a shared following of over 50 thousand followers.
83 Member Bulletins were sent to our members.
150 businesses are now accepting gift cards.
We’ve had a record member engagement for Art after Dark, Princess Street Promenades, the Holiday Shopping Passport program and our Holiday Advent Calendar.
25 members participated in a very successful retail roundtable that helped to shape Embrace the Season this winter.
Business owner engagement is continuing to grow which helps to foster a more informed community.
We will continue to build on member communication using the many tools we now have in place as well as a few new additions in 2025:
Member website upgrade
Regular surveying of members
Member roundtable planning
Community Building
In 2025, our focus will shift slightly to building a supportive residential community in and around downtown.
We will build and implement a communications plan targeting residents within close proximity to the downtown core. Some of our most effective ambassadors in promoting the unique downtown experience are people who have chosen to live in the vibrancy of everyday life in a downtown core.
In the past year, we've proactively sought opportunities to collaborate with educational institutions like Queen's, St. Lawrence College, and Royal Military College, as well as CFB Kingston. Recognizing the significant impact these somewhat transient communities have on downtown Kingston's vibrant atmosphere, our intention in 2025 is to implement consistent communication channels and mutually beneficial partnerships like employee recruitment, welcoming strategies for newcomers to the city, and an employee incentive program designed to attract talent to downtown businesses.
During 2024, our staff invested considerable resources into supporting third-party events, establishing valuable relationships, and laying the groundwork for future collaborations. This year, we will continue to grow these partnerships by identifying new opportunities to further elevate these events.
As we enter 2025, as mentioned earlier, supplemental revenue forecasted is just under $650 thousand dollars over and above the levy, which accounts for just under 30% of the overall budget. These additional funds allow us to have a significant impact on the community and on the day-to-day operations of the downtown business community.
Intensification and Densification
As you may have noticed, there is a lot of building going on around us! Over 2,000 apartments and condominiums are set to open within the next 3 to 5 years within walking distance of the streets of downtown Kingston. This will change the culture, landscape, pace, and horizon of our beautiful city, bringing community to your doorstep. If there is one thing to be excited about, this is it!
Signature Events
The events team is currently focused on the production of the inaugural winter event: Spirit of Winter, designed to foster a sense of community during the colder months and draw visitors to the downtown core during the low season.
Pre-production of our first multi-genre music festival for 2026 will be a big part of 2025 for the BIA team. As many of you know, The Limestone City Blues Festival was retired last year to make room for a new musical experience. This is just one of the many things we are excited about in 2025.
Once again, we thank those who were able to attend our Fall General Meeting on November 27, 2024. For those who couldn’t make it, we hope that you find this summary informative and exciting, as we can’t wait to get our 2025 plans started. If you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the office.
See you all in 2025!
Thanks for listening. Until next time,
Marijo 🐝
