Ann Arbor DDA to Pay City to Fix Sidewalks

For the next two years, many sidewalks within the geographic district of Ann Arbor’s Downtown Development Authority (DDA) will be repaired by the city of Ann Arbor – using funds captured by the DDA from the city’s sidewalk repair millage under its standard tax increment finance (TIF) mechanism.

Voters approved the 1/8 mill sidewalk repair millage in November 2011. The city council resolution placing the question on the ballot that year excluded certain properties inside the DDA district – those that are not one- and two-family houses – from the city’s sidewalk repair program that is funded with the millage proceeds.

The council subsequently enacted an ordinance, on June 4, 2012, that assigns responsibility for sidewalk maintenance and repair to the city of Ann Arbor. But for the excluded properties within the DDA, the ordinance provides the option that the DDA itself handles repair of adjacent sidewalks or that the DDA pays the city to do the work.

It’s an agreement related to the second of those two options that the city council voted to approve at its Jan. 22, 2013 meeting.

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 301 E. Huron. A more detailed report will follow: [link]