There will be a survey among shopkeepers and pawnbrokers in the Asser center about the introduction of a business investment zone, the BIZ. City center association Vaart in Assen (ViA) wants to levy BIZ tax from next year. With this collective contribution from entrepreneurs, she wants to get more money in the pot for a powerful city center with special activities.
The BIZ must generate 168,000 euros annually. That amount must be coughed up by a total of 580 entrepreneurs in the city center.
The additional tax only applies to commercial properties, which fall within the proposed circle for the business investment zone. The circle is drawn around the core shopping area. ViA thus maintains the same boundaries as indicated by the municipality in the inner city vision.
This concerns the Koopmansplein and surrounding shopping streets, the Brink, Torenlaan, Mercuriusplein, the Triade shopping center, Ceresplein, the Markt and the head of the Vaart. De Nieuwe Kolk and Podium Zuidhaege are also part of the BIZ area as cultural providers on the edge of the city centre.
Rolderstraat and Groningerstraat are excluded. According to the inner city association, they do not belong to the new, compact shopping center of Assen. They are regarded as approach streets, which the municipality would like to transform into residential and work streets in the future.
The inner city association desperately needs the money from the BIZ to uphold its ambitions for a lively inner city. For example, from next year she will be cut 100,000 euros from her annual budget by the municipality of Assen. This leaves 225,000 euros, with 130,000 euros as basic financing from the town hall and another 95,000 euros for a number of events.
The municipality thinks it is time for ViA to look for money within its own supporters for special events and activities for a ‘bustling city centre’. The organization now wants to fill that gap with the BIZ tax. “Because our ambition goes further than just keeping a basic organization afloat.”
According to ViA, the BIZ will apply to 325 owners and 255 users of retail and office buildings. A condition for the introduction of the tax is that two-thirds of those entitled to vote vote in favor of the scheme. The new tax could cost entrepreneurs 200 to 400 euros annually. The amount depends on the WOZ value of the commercial properties.
Vaart in Assen has recently had several discussions about the introduction of the BIZ tax. And according to ViA chairman Arjan van Bekkum ‘there were surprisingly few negative comments’.
According to inner city director Kjeld Vosjan, the BIZ has existed in other cities for much longer. “In that respect, the city center of Assen has been quite spoiled in recent years.”
The survey on the BIZ tax will be carried out between 2 and 19 January. If there is sufficient support, the scheme will take effect retroactively from 1 January 2023. The BIZ has a term of five years.
This month, the city council of Assen still has to approve the introduction of the BIZ area in the city center and the levying of the extra tax via the WOZ. The municipality is the one that will collect the BIZ tax, and then pass the proceeds on to the Vaart inner-city organization in Assen. The decision will be made on November 24.