The Everett City Council on Oct. 29 adopted a resolution to set a public hearing Nov. 19 on renewing and modestly expanding the Downtown Everett Business Improvement District (BIA) for 2026–2030.

City economic development analyst Tyler Chisholm and Liz Stenning of the Downtown Everett Association briefed the council on the renewal. Staff described two primary changes: a small boundary expansion (north side of Everett Avenue and the south side of Pacific Avenue, from Broadway to West Marine View Drive) and an assessment "rebasing." The draft assessment was described as up to 16¢ per $1,000 of assessed value and 11¢ per land square foot; staff characterized the change as a rebasing rather than an additional annual escalator because the prior ordinance contained an escalator that had raised rates over time.

Chisholm said the additional assessment revenue from the expansion is intended to roughly match the workload associated with the expanded area; the Downtown Everett Association will continue to deliver clean-and-safe services (cleaning crews, graffiti and biohazard removal, trash collection), marketing and small-business support. Stenning described the downtown crew's seven-day coverage and shared 2024 statistics: thousands of graffiti removals, roughly 7,000 bags of garbage removed and more than 1,000 biohazard pickups.

City staff and the Downtown Everett Association said single-family homes, duplexes and triplexes would be exempt from assessment; fourplexes and above would be included. Staff noted that Snohomish County contributes voluntarily to the district for county-owned properties; the U.S. Post Office is exempt by law but is included in the mapping for potential future redevelopment.

Council unanimously adopted the resolution to set the hearing; the process described by staff calls for the public hearing on Nov. 19, a second reading on Dec. 3 and final adoption (if approved) on Dec. 10, 2025.

What this means: property owners in the proposed expanded area will receive mailed notices required by state law; any final change would require council ordinance following the public hearing process.