Over 600 local businesses will be asked to go to the polls this September to decide if Enniskillen is to become a Business Improvement District (BID).

A BID requires local businesses to pay a levy on top of their rates. The levy would be managed by local businesses and used to pay for improvements to their town.

An Enniskillen BID task team has been working with Fermanagh and Omagh District Council since November 2015 to secure a yes vote. According to the task team, the levy would generate £850,000 over a five year period which would be spent on a range of new initiatives to boost the local economy. 

A report to the Council’s April Regeneration and Community Committee meeting shows that the money could go towards employment of a full time Enniskillen BID Manager who will assist all businesses in the levy area; a branding strategy which will include up to date town website and seamless social media presence; supporting larger events within the town and developing smaller more frequent events which improve the economy of Enniskillen; establishing a Business Assist Programme to help grow town centre businesses; the collective procurement of a range of business services to reduce business costs; enhanced security features within the levy area to ensure visitors feel safe; improved signage within the BID area; and customer loyalty schemes.

The task team has now officially informed the Council of its intention to hold a ballot. The initial date of the ballot was March 2016 but this has been re-arranged for September 1, 2016. The ballot will be open for 42 days and the result will be announced on October 14, 2016. 

The Enniskillen BID task team includes: Anna Devlin, Cavanagh Kelly Accountants (Chair); Thomas Harpur, Enniskillen Business Partnership; Pat Blake, Blakes of the Hollow; Nicky Cassidy, Westville Hotel; Terry McCartney, Belmore Court and Motel; Tanya Cathcart, Fermanagh Lakeland Tourism; Jim Masterson, Erneside Shopping Centre; Declan Devlin, O2 & Pizza Hut; Jonathan Poots, Boots Ltd; Jonathan Styles, Mercers and Anne Mooney, North West News Group.

If a yes vote is secured, all businesses in the BID area will contribute a levy of 1.5 per cent of the rateable value of their business - even if they voted no. This means that, over a period of five years, a business with a rateable value of £5,000 would pay the equivalent of 21 pence per day towards the levy; a business with a rateable value of £25,000 would pay around £1 per day and a business with a rateable value of £100,000 would pay £4 per day. 
Schools, registered charities, religious organisations and organisations with a rateable value of below £5,000 would be exempt from the levy. Vacant properties would be liable to pay. The BID would last for five years, after which another ballot would be held. Twenty Council-owned properties sit within the proposed Enniskillen BID area. FODC estimates that the potential levy for the Council would be £10,000 per annum for a five year period. 
If successful, the delivery body for the Enniskillen BID would be a company limited by guarantee and an independent legal entity. 

The Council would manage the Enniskillen BID levy invoicing and banking arrangements and would be eligible to put forward nominations to sit on the BID Limited Company.