Krill Opposes Neighborhood Improvement District Plan

In his first news conference since announcing his candidacy for mayor of Easton, Mike Krill took aim at the concept of the Neighborhood Improvement District to fund downtown projects.

would involve charging a fee to downtown property owners to pay for programs like the Easton Main Street Initiative and the city's Ambassadors, the folks in red jackets who keep the downtown streets clean.

Krill, speaking at a podium at the corner of Second and Spring Garden streets, told a handful of supporters he opposes the NID if it will have a negative financial impact on downtown property owners.

"Sidewalk sweeping is something we don't need government to supply," he said. "Pride is a state of mind, not a mandate of government."

Krill argued that assessing another tax on property owners downtown will only keep people from wanting to live there.

Mayor Sal Panto said Krill's opinion on the NID is "somewhat premature," and argued that the program has yet to be approved by the city.

Krill, a city firefighter running on the Republican ticket, said he's not against the Ambassadors program, but offered an alternative vision for it.

"I would run it as a youths job program," in the summers and on weekends, Krill said. It would be run directly by the city, he said.

But why just the summer? What about the rest of the year? There's not the same level of downtown traffic in the winter months, Krill said.

Panto -- who called the Ambassadors "probably the most successful program the city has seen" -- said that it's meant to last year round. He said the program's workers were extremely helpful during the most recent winter.

"That doesn't mean it's not going to change," Panto, a Democrat, added. With the funding for the program , it mind end up getting scaled back in terms of hours and staffing levels, but not in terms of its presence throughout the calendar year. 

The NID would collect a fee based on a property's assessed value. The media fee would be about $288 a year, although some property owners would pay a much higher rate.

A survey by the Greater Easton Development Partnership -- which oversees the Ambassadors and Main Street Initiative -- found that 82 percent of the 142 properties that responded supported the NID concept. 500 total property owners received the survey.

Krill said it's not fair to consider the non-responses as "yes" votes. He thinks it should be handled "as a ballot initiative, not a push poll."