Wheeling City Council Passes Streetscape Business Relief Program
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Small retail businesses in downtown Wheeling will see up to $10,000 each in relief to make up for revenue lost due to the Downtown Streetscape Project.
Wheeling City Council voted 5-0 Tuesday - with one abstention and one absence - to approve a budget revision that will move $300,000 from city home improvement programs toward the new relief fund, which will include a combination of business and occupation tax credits and monetary relief.
Vice Mayor Chad Thalman abstained from voting, citing a conflict of interest keeping him from casting a vote. He said he owns two buildings in downtown Wheeling with restaurants that could benefit from the program, Taqueria 304 and Tito's Sloppy Dogs.
Councilman Jerry Sklavounakis was absent from Tuesday evening's meeting.
"The idea behind this proposal is to give sort of a lifeline to those businesses that have seen a major reduction in the revenues since the project began," said Mayor Glenn Elliott while discussing the proposal. "At the end of the day, the final result (of the Streetscape Project) is going to be better for everybody, but you don’t want to see any businesses disappear or fail during this project."
Elliott noted that the past couple of years have not been kind to downtown businesses. He explained the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic followed by the Streetscape Project has caused major disruptions to businesses in the downtown area.
The most recent disruption of the $32 million West Virginia Division of Highways project has brought construction to the front doors of downtown businesses. Customer traffic has been impeded due to construction zones, limited parking and road closures.
Small business owners downtown have voiced concerns about the possibility of going under due to the project. Road closures and construction impeding access to businesses have created confusion and frustration for customers, who may be warded off entirely from the downtown area due to the project.
City Manager Robert Herron initially proposed the idea for the program to help mitigate revenue losses of small businesses during a Dec. 6 Development Committee of Council meeting.
During the meeting, Herron explained the relief package could be built from unused funds from previously approved home improvement programs, including the Pre-1940 Homeowners Repair Program and the Homeowner Improvement Program. Another option for funding that council members opposed was the reduction of the street paving budget from $800,000 to $500,000.
If eligible for the program, a business could receive up to $555 a month for 12 months, with a possible six additional months.
To be eligible, a business must generate under $1 million of annual sales and can not be classified as a wholesale or jobber, a business that takes goods in quantity from manufacturers or importers and sells or resells or distributes them to retail chains and syndicates.
Lost sales for a business must have reached a minimum of $10,000 to apply for up to $10,000 lost revenue allocation through the program. Lost sales estimations will be made by city leaders using the higher year of each business's reported revenues for 2019 or 2022. For businesses that are newer and do not have reported revenues from either year, other means of estimated revenue lost will be employed.
The estimated area of small retail businesses falling under $1 million in annual sales includes Market Street and Main Street between 10th and 16th streets, as well as 16th, 14th, 12th, and 10th streets between Main and Market Streets.
Twenty-one existing businesses would qualify for funding from this area.
Eligible small downtown businesses approved by the Finance Department and the Office of the City Manager will also be entitled to a 50% credit against the businesses and occupation tax. The tax credit will cover the fiscal time period stretching back retroactively to July 1, 2023, through to July 1, 2025.
The businesses applicable for the tax credit were identified by the office of the City Manager and the Finance Department to be on both sides of Main Street from 16th Street to 9th Street and both sides of Market Street from 16th Street to 10th Street. Also included are the cross streets of 10th, 12th, 14th and 16th Streets as well as cross streets between Main and Market Streets.
Elliott said "hopefully" the combined tax credits and monetary relief would be enough to get businesses "through until the project is done."
"By all accounts, the project should be done by the spring of 2025, but we know those project days could slip," added Elliott. "I think by spring 2025, the vast majority of the project is going to be done, and maybe some planning and other things will start to happen."
Incentives to support small businesses downtown have not only come from the city but private businesses as well. A recent significant effort in providing relief to local businesses was an incentive campaign sponsored by Panhandle Cleaning & Restoration.
Anyone participating who eats at one of the 13 downtown restaurants taking part in the campaign will receive a stamp on a loyalty card. Once six stamps have been acquired on the card, the participant will be entered into a drawing to receive $1,000.
Councilmembers applauded the efforts of Panhandle Cleaning & Restoration, with Councilman Ben Seidler encouraging residents to pick up their punch cards during Tuesday's meeting.
Councilman Dave Palmer also challenged any other business to step up and add to Panhandle's efforts, encouraging them to "jump on it."