Patch Primer: Wheaton Urban District

Patch Primer lays out the basics of government programs and other organizations, often with related documents that you can check out for yourself.

When you pass by the Mid-County Services Center on Reedie Drive, a small sign across the street announces that you are in Wheaton Urban District. But what exactly is the Urban District? And what does it do?

Three urban districts fall under the direction of Montgomery County: Wheaton, Bethesda, and downtown Silver Spring. The three were created about the same time.

"The urban districts were created because they were dense, commercial, and urbanized areas," said Natalie Cantor, director of the Mid-County Services Center. "It was clear to county leadership they needed additional services."

These districts are analogous to business improvement districts within the District of Columbia. Wheaton's urban district is about 70 acres, encompassing the entire triangle district, Westfield, and shopping areas between Grandview and Amherst. Like Bethesda and Silver Spring's districts, this area does not cover primarily residential areas, but commercial hubs that often have some type of residences within them.

Cantor and her office run a program for the urban district that includes events and promotion for local businesses. The largest event each  year is "A Taste of Wheaton", focusing on the food of local restaurants and live entertainment. The district employs a marketing director and a staff of "clean team" and "safe team" members. 

"The safe team are our eyes and ears for public safety," Cantor said, adding that their job description broadly includes "concierge services" - offering restaurant suggestions, helping those locked out of their car and even giving rides from shops to parking. A separate "clean team" helps plant new flowers and removes litter from the district.

Between part-time and full-time employees, the urban district employs about 20 safe and clean team members – easily picked out by their red shirts.

The total budget for the Wheaton Urban District in Fiscal Year 2010 was $1.6 million, but for FY 2011, the recommended budget will be $1.4 million. A majority of these expenses are employee salaries. Bethesda and Silver Spring's expenses, in comparison, are over $3 and $2 million respectively.

Cutting down the usual five weeks of the TGIF Summer Concert series to one this year was the most visible cut to the budget (savings: $17,000). But cutbacks recommended for FY 2011 include eliminating tree fertilization ($5,500), cutting three employee positions ($167,600 for all three), and eliminating the urban district's advertising in the Wheaton/Kensington Chamber of Commerce annual guide ($2,300).

Urban Districts are supposed to self-supported, according to Cantor. Wheaton's district is supported by three main sources of income – taxes paid by property owners, parking taxes paid if the owner cannot provide the required amount of parking by law, and fines and fees from the parking lot district, i.e. the meters you feed when you park your car downtown.

The funding source that's been lacking in comparison to the Bethesda and Silver Spring district is fees paid by developers who want to use the optional method, which often means building taller and denser on a wider variety of lots in exchange for paying into the urban district. The Safeway project at the corner of Reedie and Georgia will be the first project to fall under this method.

To cover their budget, Cantor says that Wheaton's district receives about $300,000 from the county's general services fund.