Spalding business bosses vow to fight on after being ordered to pay BID levy by court
Business owners have vowed to continue fighting a ‘whitewash’ levy imposed on town centre traders - despite being ordered to pay out by a court.
A total of 45 companies were ordered to cough up unpaid bills to the Spalding BID (Business Improvement District) during a hearing at Boston Magistrates’ Court on Monday (June 30).
South Holland District Council, which collects the money on behalf of the BID, said it had ‘every confidence’ the ballot and collection were carried out in the ‘correct and proper manner’.
However, speaking after the verdict, five town traders who attended court told LincsOnline that their battle will continue.
“Even if it takes us four years, 11 months and 30 days into the BID, if we have the chance to overturn it with one day to go then we will,” said Julian Wheeler, of Welland Photo Services.
Physiotherapist Paul Parkin of Back On Track Therapy, said he felt buoyed to continue the fight after traders were encouraged to appeal by magistrate Allan Ovens, who said ‘there appears to be a lot of murky aspects to this whole process’.
“We’ll definitely keep fighting,” he said.
“But the court telling me to continue with an appeal means they understood what I was talking about.
“It’s definitely murky.”
The BID was voted in by one ballot last summer, meaning all businesses within the designated area must pay a levy of 2% of their rateable value.
BID chiefs say this will generate £1 million over a five-year period - the life cycle of each BID before the next vote - to boost trade via a number of initiatives such as public events, free parking and town centre improvements.
Two traders argued that the result should not stand as they did not receive ballot papers and, had they been able to cast their votes, the outcome would have been completely different.
Last summer Nicholas Thompson, of The Art of Ink tattoo parlour, was running two businesses in town but only received a ballot paper for one.
“If people are not having their fair say or their vote you have no way of having your say. That was a whitewash,” he said.
“Also a decent percentage of that money (BID Levy) is going towards staffing and office costs, it’s not going back into the town.”
Mr Thompson’s words were echoed by Macie Harman of Macie’s Boo-Tique.
"I didn’t receive a voting slip, and now they’re saying to me it doesn’t matter if you received it or not you have to pay for it,” she said.
“I think last year’s vote meant nothing as it seems they were going to go ahead with it anyway.
“I work 50 hours a week, I’m in there five days a week and I know what comes in through my door. That did not come through my door.
“Every penny counts in my business. I will have to work a fair few hours to earn the money to pay my bill.”
Afterglow tanning director Rachael Thorne did have an opportunity to cast her vote, but said she heard nothing about a 28-day appeals window after the outcome had been determined.
“We were only there (at court) for one reason, for them to make us pay,” she said.
“We did receive a vote and we voted no. But we received nothing after that. We didn’t know about the appeal so we couldn’t appeal anyway, that ruined it for us.
“We didn’t see anything before or after. We just received a ballot paper and then, later on, a bill.
“With electricity going up, rents going up, council tax going up everything is having an impact.”
A spokesperson from South Holland District Council told LincsOnline: “We have every confidence that the BID ballot and levy collection have been carried out in the correct and proper manner, working in line with national guidelines to ensure a fair and transparent process, with clear and documented communication throughout.
“The ballot was managed to the same high level as any other election, with verified data being provided to a recognised electoral services provider, and the council’s returning officer overseeing the process with the usual checks, proofing and sign-off taking place.
“The collection of the levy on behalf of the BID has been carried out in the same manner as it would be with council tax and all other council managed collection processes, and all recovery actions undertaken have been done in line with the relevant national regulations.”
A statement issued by Spalding BID added: “Following the decision made by the chief magistrate at Boston Magistrates Court on Monday, June 30, requesting that levy payment is made by a small number of non-payers, Spalding BID is now hopeful we can positively move forward to work with businesses and organisations across the BID area.
“As part of information gathering, along with our new manager, Sarah Fletcher starting to get out and about talking to local businesses, in line with our business plan, BID is keen to hear from as many businesses and organisations as possible about how we can support them.”
BID manager Sarah Fletcher added: “Many of the levy payers have already started to share their thoughts with me about the town and help they need, which is great, but we need to hear from many more.
“By September, BID expects to have set up monthly business breakfast networking events, improvements to our website, an increase in company members as well as starting to send out regular communications to levy payers, all of which will give plenty of opportunity for levy payers to share their views.”
