With self-imposed tax, downtown property owners see powerful benefits

This paid piece is sponsored by Downtown Sioux Falls Inc.

Katrin Profilet and her husband, Zach Dickson, were among the first to buy a condominium when they became available in 2017 in the downtown Jones421 Building.

They were renting a loft nearby, watched Jones421 be built, and “we knew we didn’t want to buy a house, but we wanted to own something,” she said.

“We love our unit. Our dog named Gouda has grown up downtown, and we’re regulars at so many places. We see friendly faces, and the community is the best part of living here — just going to all the places we know and love and being warmly greeted.”

It’s important to her and countless other downtown property owners that downtown Sioux Falls maintains its reputation for being a clean, safe, welcoming place to live.

It’s why collectively they chose to recommend that the city of Sioux Falls establish a business improvement district, or BID, in the downtown area, allowing property owners to pay a dedicated tax that is used for BID-related improvements.

“It’s uncommon for property owners to do this,” said Brandon Hanson, CEO of Downtown Sioux Falls Inc. “It took a lot of unity and vision from people who came before us, and it takes our current property owners continuing to invest in supporting it in order for us to build on that success.”

Two years ago, the city and downtown reassessed and removed a cap on what the BID could generate, allowing the fund to grow to $450,000 annually and opening up opportunities to fund other improvements.

“I was really pleasantly surprised because we hadn’t had a change in the assessment for 30 years,” said Profilet, who now chairs the board of directors overseeing the BID. “We weren’t maintaining pace with other regional communities and their downtown associations, so we weren’t able to offer as many services.”

That has changed. The BID is limited by law as to what it can fund, but there are plenty of valuable options to help make downtown a more appealing place.

“It really centers around promotion of the downtown district as a whole, the concept of a place to live, work and play, as well as helping keep the district clean and green,” Hanson said.

The DTSF ambassador program largely is funded by the BID, with an additional contribution from the city of Sioux Falls, and helps the downtown area check many of those boxes.

“They work 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day of the week,” Hanson said. “We’re trying to make sure downtown looks incredible and to build the best environment and experience for visitors, residents and business owners.”

The ambassadors do that in ways large and small. They tallied 14,000 interactions last year — everything from helping with directions for visitors to walking employees safely to their cars to helping connect the people disrupting downtown with services or law enforcement.

They even pulled 32,000 pieces of gum off the sidewalk, along with:

• 24,920 pounds of trash hauled.
• 1,247 hours of beautification.
• 16,679 hospitality engagements.
• 600 safety and welfare checks.
• 525 graffiti locations cleaned.

This season, the team will be back in-house; DTSF no longer is using a third party to manage the ambassadors and was able to offer pay increases and benefits to the team because of it.

“They’re friendly, great people,” Hanson said. “Whether it’s graffiti, an overflowing trash can or a person in need of help, they’re able to help address a lot of situations.”

DTSF still has room for one more ambassador on the team for the season, which runs through September. Click here to learn more and apply. 

As a resident, “I think the ambassadors are incredible,” Profilet said. “Thanks to the city’s support, we were able to hire even more ambassadors, and it’s really a crucial part of where the BID goes.”

She also appreciates that while membership and donor dollars help fund specific DTSF programs, the BID supports all of downtown.

“If people are downtown and don’t have a positive experience for whatever reason, it will be a detriment for everyone: the retailers, the residents and the people who live down here,” she said.

The BID also covers things like flowers downtown, trash services in public areas, promotional banners and holiday lights, in addition to covering part of DTSF’s costs to help administer the program.

“You’ll begin to see more messaging around downtown to communicate what we’re able to fund because of the BID,” Hanson said. “We see it as a way of thanking property owners for supporting this. It’s already making a significant impact, and that will only grow as downtown does.”