UHCA on "The West End"

UHCA, in cooperation with all of our neighboring community-based non-profit organizations, believes that creation of a new MAD by a for-profit enterprise who will collect hundreds of thousands of dollars in administrative fees, is not in the best interest of our community. We also believe that now is not the time to increase the tax burden on our community’s businesses, homeowners, and renters.

The following “Q&A” article appeared in the October edition of the UHCA News. Below that are links to news articles, organization statements, and the letter sent to property owners by the company attempting to form the new MAD, New City America Inc.

UHCA is committed to being the voice of our community and will continue to engage with our elected officials and other organizations to make sure that voice is heard loudly and clearly. Stay tuned to uhsd.org, UHCA News, and our monthly meetings for updates.

October 2020 UHCA RECOMMENDS AGAINST “WEST END” MAD PROPOSAL

Recently, there has been a lot of news about a new “West End” Community Benefit Investment District (or CBID) proposed by New City America. This CBID would function as a Maintenance Assessment District (or MAD). The UHCA board has compiled a list of questions and answers to help our community better understand what’s happening.

What is a MAD? The city provides a set of basic services to property owners and public areas. If the property owners in an area want more services (e.g., additional trash cans/more frequent pickup, landscaping, sidewalk cleaning, additional street sweeping), they can form a MAD, which will add a special assessment to their property taxes to pay for the added services.
How is a MAD started? Property owners or developers form a group to work with the city to create a proposal, and then the proposal is sent to property owners as a “ballot” to vote on. Votes are weighted by each property’s size, and the results are sent to the City Council to approve the formation of the MAD.
Isn’t there already a UH MAD? Yes, University Heights has a MAD. Operated by the University Heights Community Development Corp., a non-profit community organization, the UH MAD provides additional street and sidewalk cleanup, trash barrels, maintenance of the University Heights sign, banners, and the decorative street lighting. The UH Mad covers Adams Ave. from North Ave. to Alabama Ave., and Park Blvd. from Adams Ave. to Meade Ave. Other MADs cover El Cajon Blvd. and Adams Ave., and a new one is in the process of being developed for the eastern part of University Ave.
Who is New City America? New City America is a for-profit company that helps developers and neighborhoods create and manage assessment districts. New City previously attempted to create new districts in University Heights and Kensington but failed. New City helped form and currently manages the Little Italy Business Improvement District and has worked on a number of projects around the country.
How much do MADs cost? The UH MAD 2021 budget assesses 138 parcels at $8.88 per linear foot for a total income of $47,991. New City America’s proposal for 2021 is a $10 per linear foot assessment over a much larger area, for a total income of $664,075. In addition, New City America proposes spending $399,000 over the first three years in “Administration/Management” fees (to themselves) and spending the same amount on “District Identity and Placemaking.”
I don’t own property. I pay rent. Do I have a say in this? No, not directly. To have a say in this decision, you would need to talk to the person or company that you pay rent to and convince them to vote for or against the MAD formation.
What happens next? Nothing has been approved by the City Council, but UHCA, in partnership with the other community organizations including Community Coalition of UH, UH Historical Society, UH Community Development Corp., El Cajon Boulevard Business Improvement Assoc., Hillcrest Business Assoc., and Adams Avenue Business Assoc., will be closely watching this and will keep our community updated