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The Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Team
Under consideration PE2179: Strengthen veto powers when assessing Business Improvement District proposals
Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to:
• require local authorities to veto proposals for Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) if the levy due to be paid by businesses is not proportional with the rateable value of properties
• introduce a duty on Scottish Ministers to take such levy proportionality into account in any decisions regarding BID proposals.
Background information
For a BID ballot to be successful, the aggregate of rateable values (RVs) in respect of which votes in favour of the BID proposal have been cast must be higher than the aggregate of RVs in respect of which votes against have been cast. This means a BID company needs yes votes from high RV properties.
If a BID is established, it is developed, managed and paid for by businesses through a compulsory BID levy. There is therefore an obvious incentive for a BID Company to simply offer a reduced levy to high RV properties in exchange for their vote in the ballot. The practice of levy persuasion will allow a levy structure to pass at ballot (especially with low turnouts) which is proportionately high for the lowest RV businesses.
Consequences of a disproportionate levy structure can include forcing small businesses to close. In view of disproportion occurring, current legislation allows local authorities to veto a ballot based on a disproportionate levy structure. However, it does not provide local authorities with specific examples or tolerances for them to properly carry out the guidance.
105 signatures
This petition is now under consideration
Click here for further information about the consideration of this petition.