Property owners within Cheyenne’s Downtown Development Authority (DDA) district voted yes on a 20-mill tax levy on their properties in their election last Wednesday. This will generate an estimated $380,000 annually to help fund projects within the district.
Now, this mill levy isn’t new. We’ve been doing the tax tango every four years, and the next round kicks off on January 1, 2024. The last one got the green light in 2019. Simply put, a mill levy is a property tax based on your property’s worth, with one mill equaling $1 for every $1,000 assessed.
So, what’s all this dough for? As per the ballot, funds are earmarked “exclusively for landscaping public areas, planning and managing development activities, promoting public events, and supporting business recruitment and development.”
Under a March agreement between the City of Cheyenne and the DDA, not a penny of the levy will be spent on DDA admin costs. That agreement frees more levy funding for community benefit, like filling planters with flowers, graffiti abatement, and sponsorship of events like Fridays on the Plaza, Edge Fest, Community Appreciation Day, Downtown Halloween, Old West Holiday, the Running of the Santas, and a host of other lively happenings.
The levy has been a game-changer for the DDA’s Capital Improvement Grant and Façade Improvement Program. Over the last four years, $600,000 in grants has given downtown a makeover. So, here’s to more downtown dazzle!