Changes are in store for downtown Decorah SSMID

A program that has quietly been working to improve downtown Decorah will mark a milestone later this spring.

The Downtown Decorah Self-Supporting Municipal Improvement District—or "SSMID"—has been paying for improvements in the downtown area since July 1st of 2001.

A substantial share of the $10,000 raised each year through a small property tax levy on property within the downtown district has been spent on helping to pay for the flower baskets that line downtown streets.  Other money from the SSMID has gone toward paying for other amenities such as benches, trash receptacles, bicycle racks, trees, kiosks and Christmas lights.

In all, the SSMID has raised $100,000 over the past ten years.

But as of June 30th, the existing SSMID will go out of business after ten years.  It will be replaced by a larger SSMID that will include property on Decorah West Side.  And the new district will raise $15,000 each year for the next ten years.

City of Decorah officials are now looking for people willing to serve on the nine-member board that will oversee the new SSMID—especially people representing the West Side.  Interested people can contact the City Clerk's Office.