In a bid to make Westwood Village more enticing to shoppers, area business owners have agreed to go ahead and start taxing themselves for pay for neighborhood improvements like tree maintenance, graffiti scrubbage, and sidewalk repair, The Daily Bruin reports. Property owners recently launched a business improvement district and heartily approved the tax, which kicks in July 1st--the business owners want to pull in $1 million in the next three years. The hope is that nicer aesthetics will goose business in the heavily foot-trafficked, but broken-down, Village (an empty storefront should be UCLA's new mascot). Business owners should give a big kiss to UCLA, which is donating money to the BID even though they don't have to since the school is a public entity; UCLA committed $38,000 a year for three years, with the money coming out of the vice chancellor's discretionary fund and not, according to the article, student tuition. The owner of a Village jewelry store says he'll pay about $2,000 to $3,000 a year toward the BID, according to his estimates.
· Westwood Village Approves Self-Tax Program [The Daily Bruin]
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