A community improvement district is a special assessment district variant used in at least two states - Missouri and Georgia.
In Missouri, CIDs may form as a political subdivision with the power to impose real property taxes or special assessments, or a nonprofit corporation with the power to impose special assessments. CIDs formed as a political subdivision may impose an additional sales and use tax in addition to real property taxes. Nonprofits may only impose a special assessment. Although the state's Community Improvement District Act permits the financing of capital improvements including to construct "sidewalks, streets, alleys, bridges, ramps, tunnels, overpasses and underpasses, traffic signs and signals, utilities, drainage, water, storm and sewer systems, and other site improvements" (MO Rev Stat § 67.1461), among other facilities, CIDs generally act like business improvement districts (BID), supplementing existing municipal services that enhance the business climate and quality of life, and promote economic development.
In at least one example, a CID's role in major transportation improvements extends beyond that of a typical BID. The Downtown Council of Kansas City has led or participated in a number of transportation infrastructure plans including Beyond the Loop - the replacement of the Buck O'Neil Bridge carrying US 169 over the Missouri River - and decking over several blocks of I-670 with a linear park to reconnect two downtown neighborhoods.
In Georgia, CIDs are also similar to BIDs but provide additional services related to infrastructure planning and management, predominantly for transportation facilities such as roads, pedestrian bridges and sidewalks, and traffic signals. CIDs are administered by a nonprofit corporation or downtown development authority, and governed by a district plan that covers services and improvements over a five-to-ten-year timeframe. CIDs are automatically dissolved and require renewal at the end of their plan periods, although in actuality no CID has ever dissolved since the first one in the state formed in 1988. Georgia CIDs' special assessments only apply to commercial or industrial properties.
15th Street Extension Project - Atlanta, Georgia
Akers Mill Central Trail Improvement Project - Cumberland, Georgia
Bob Callan Trail Extention Project - Cumberland, Georgia
Crescent Avenue Streetscape Upgrades Project - Atlanta, Georgia
Cumberland Boulevard Improvements - Cumberland, Georgia
Cumberland Signage Project - Cumberland, Georgia
I-285/SR 400 Interchange Reconstruction - Fulton and DeKalb Counties, Georgia
New Traffic Signals Project - Atlanta, Georgia
Sugarloaf Parkway Corridor Improvements - Gwinnett County-Duluth, Georgia
U.S. Highway 41 Corridor Improvements - Cumberland, Georgia
Windy Hill Corridor Improvements - Cobb County, Georgia
View Resources on Community Improvement Districts
View enabling legislation for Community Improvement Districts.
