Olympia City Council advances PBIA evaluation

The Olympia City Council approved moving forward with a Parking and Business Improvement Area (PBIA) evaluation, continuing a review of the downtown business district’s funding structure and operations.

The decision follows an evaluation led by Uncommon Bridges, which examined PBIA’s financial model, administrative structure and service delivery compared with similar districts across Washington and the country.

At a council meeting on Tuesday, April 14, Economic Development Director Jennica Machado said the action does not immediately change the PBIA but continues the planning process.

“We are asking whether to move forward to Phase Two of this project,” said Machado, adding any future changes would return to the council for approval after additional study engagement.

Comparison

Consultant Brian Scott, of Uncommon Bridges, presented findings from the evaluation, comparing Olympia’s PBIA with districts in Everett and West Seattle Junction.

Everett’s downtown district operates on a roughly $1.2 million budget, with more than $600,000 generated through property-based assessment.

West Seattle Junction operates at about $1.3 million annually, with about half of the total funded through its assessment system.

Scott noted Everett uses a property-based formula tied to land and assessed value, while West Seattle uses a model based on business reporting.

According to Scott, Olympia’s downtown real estate value is about $800 million, compared with about $1.3 billion in Everett and $600 million in West Seattle Junction. Despite the valuation, Olympia’s PBIA collects roughly $114,500 annually, significantly less than the two districts.

He added that Olympia has comparable land and building area, but much lower assessment revenue.

Scott said Olympia’s PBIA is both underfunded and structurally outdated compared with national models.

“Your structure does not align with best practices," he said.

He pointed to stagnant assessment rates as a major issue, saying the rates have not changed since 2005 despite inflation.

The district generated roughly $114,000 in 2024, an amount he said is too small to support a set of services. Scott added that if rates had kept pace with inflation, revenue could be closer to $200,000.

He also addressed the tenant-based structure of the district.

“A tenant-based district like yours is difficult to administer,” said Scott, explaining unlike property-based systems, there is no comprehensive tenant list, and it is making tracking and assessments more complex.

The evaluation also found a mismatch between services and business priorities.

Scott said stakeholders consistently emphasized “clean and safe” services, while limited funding has been spread across marketing, beautification and other activities.

He noted Olympia’s model reflects older structures from the 1990s and early 2000s, while many districts have since shifted to more sustainable approaches.

Recommendations

Scott recommended several potential changes if the city proceeds, including increasing funding levels, updating the assessment formula, exploring a shift to a property-based model, and transferring day-to-day operations to a nonprofit program manager, such as the Olympia Downtown Alliance.

Additional recommendations include reducing the administrative burden on city staff and establishing clearer performance metrics.

He said any increase in funding would require an agreement among a majority of ratepayers.

The next step in the process, known as Phase Two, will focus on developing a detailed proposal for the PBIA’s future, including outreach to business and property owners, financial modeling and evaluation of structural changes.

According to Scott, the process will involve “iterative consensus building among the ratepayers” to determine service priorities and funding levels.

The PBIA advisory board and the Community Livability and Public Safety Committee (CLPS) both recommended advancing to Phase Two. The next phase is estimated to cost about $50,000, with funding shared between PBIA and the city’s Economic Development.