BY STACIE LETT CAIN

The Statesville City Council is considering a plan to reorganize the Downtown Statesville Development Corporation (DSDC).

The nonprofit DSDC, which is charged with meeting program requirements for the North Carolina Main Street Program, receives a significant portion of its funding from the city, which assigns the organization a special tax levied in the Central Taxing District.

DSDC has been without an executive director since May this year. During this transition period, the DSDC Board approached city officials with ideas about how the organization can better serve the city of Statesville.

The DSDC board has asked the city council to maintain a quasi-governmental model for the non-profit organization. Under one proposal, DSDC would continue to operate under a contract with the city, but the two DSDC staff would become city employees.

The reorganization would cost the city $200,000 a year. In the first year of the agreement, the city would recoup that amount from Main Street Development (MSD) revenue, as well as special grants. In subsequent years, funds from grants, marketing or revolving loan funds could be used to cover the cost.

DSDC, which operates as a franchise of the Main Street America program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, has been in existence since 1980. The program uses community-driven revitalization to stimulate economic growth and development using economic vitality, design, organization and marketing as its four key components.

Moving toward a quasi-governmental model is a recent trend and has been adopted in nearby communities, including Concord, Mocksville, North Wilkesboro and Salisbury.

The councilors made no decision, and the knowledge that neighboring municipalities had adopted the quasi-governmental structure did not seem to affect them.

“One concern of mine is that these dollars would be better spent on economic development throughout the city, not focused on just downtown,” commented Council Member Kim Wasson. “They (DSDC) have done well on their own, and the city doesn’t support any other nonprofits like this.

To me, this sets an awkward precedent, she added.

In addition to financial problems, it was also discussed whether it would be necessary to raise the property tax rate to cover the funds needed.

Paying that tax was less of a problem for Councilwoman Lisa Pearson than the fact that her ward would not benefit from those funds.

“If we’re in an area that’s going to be looking to pay this extra tax, we should be an area that would see a benefit from it,” she explained. “You can look down the street here and see all the improvements end here on Center Street at the ABC Store, and you can see what it looks like after that.

“Yet that tax would be paid by people outside that line, and my concern is that they won’t see anything for it.”

Council members plan to continue discussing the plan at an upcoming workshop meeting.