New face seeking downtown contributions

MOSES LAKE - There's a new person working to draw contributions for downtown Moses Lake.

Heather Eblen was hired by the Moses Lake Business Association about three weeks ago to specifically sell the state's Main Street Tax Credit Incentive Program to local businesses. The association was designated eligible for the program in December 2005.

A recent transplant from Oregon for health reasons, Eblen's sister is Moses Lake businesswoman Cindy Good, so she was familiar with the city.

"This job kind of fell in my lap because (Good's husband) Dale is part of MLBA," Eblen said. "This is the second year for the program. Last year, all the people who have full-time jobs still tried selling the program and it was pretty hard to get it around."

Moses Lake Business Association Executive Director Sally Goodwin said the possibility existed to bring in a lot of money with the incentive plan, financing necessary to implement the Destination Development, Inc., plan which has been approved.

"Our members, our board of directors are all business people, and time is a real crunch," Goodwin said. "We decided we can bring in a lot more than we did last year, we're capable of doing that, it just takes more work."

Eblen has made many contacts, Goodwin said.

"She hasn't closed a lot of them yet, but you don't walk into a business and say, 'Hey, I need $10,000,' and they hand you a check," Goodwin explained. "They have to take it to a board of directors or a higher official, so it's coming."

Eblen plans to pursue work as a nurse in Moses Lake, but said she is committed to seeing the program through, even on a part-time basis.

The job has been good to get to know the town and its people.

"However, I'm a registered nurse so this is not really my life work," she said with a laugh. "But it's a wonderful program."

Under the program, businesses may make a donation to downtown renovations. The state provides a maximum of $100,000 back in the form of business and occupation, or B & O, tax credits to each participating city.

"So businesses sit and figure out about how much B & O tax they pay in a year, and then they determine a contribution," Eblen explained. "Seventy-five percent of that contribution will be their tax credit, so they figure out how much they can use and that's what they contribute."

The top donation last year was $20,000. A total of $96,000 was received from about 12 participating companies.

"Another neat part of the program is the state has set it up so 100 percent of their contribution can be deducted as a promotional expense for the company," Eblen said. "So we're trying to bring in as many local businesses as we can, because it makes it feel like a really community effort that way."

Eblen said she has visited about 50 companies and received positive feedback. But many businesses are juggling to figure out what exactly they can afford to contribute.

"The concern is the pot is slowly being drained by other cities in the state, and so the race against the clock isn't necessarily because the end of the year's coming, but because other cities are going for their part of the pot also. Once the money's gone, the money's gone and there are more cities going for it than they have money, as far as everybody getting their (maximum amount in returns)."

Eblen said many companies feel like they have to pay the association at the time they commit, which is a misunderstanding.

"They can make the commitment and actually put that commitment in their e-file account, but they have until the end of the year to actually pay the city for their contribution," Eblen said. "Just reserving their part of the pie is the important part right now, and they have to do that via e-file."

The credit is reserved for the business, and the state verifies with Goodwin at the end of the year the company has paid.

Anyone may make a donation, however, only businesses receive credit back, Eblen added.

"B&O tax is something we have to pay anyway, and this they feel like they get to direct some of their tax money into their own city, and still get 75 percent back," she said. "They give $2,000 as a donation, it really only costs them $500. They get $1,500 back as a credit to use next year on their B&O tax."

Last year's donations went toward the flower pots along Third Avenue, including the soil and plants and a person hired to water and fertilize them.

"This year, they're talking about extending that down to Fourth Avenue," Eblen said. "That's not in concrete yet, but they've had a lot of really positive comments about the flower pots."

The money also went toward Sinkiuse Square, and some has been reserved for new signage under the new logo pitched to the City of Moses Lake by Destination Development, Inc.,

Eblen said the association encourages business owners to attend its monthly meetings held in the Desert Plaza Building the first Thursday of every month and give feedback on how they would like to improve the town and encourage more industry into Moses Lake.

Goodwin said the City of Moses Lake has adopted and endorsed the plan presented by Destination Development, Inc., but it's still a grassroots effort.

"We're one of the agencies pushing on it," she said. "We have this recruitment plan, facade improvements as well as the beautification and stuff we want to do. You know, that stuff all takes money."

Goodwin said about $4,000 has already been raised from five companies for this year. She expected more contributions from other companies, but again stressed the need for the commitment as other cities come close to maxing out.

"We were third in the state last year, and we've got to start moving if we want to be third in the state this year," she said.