Greenway group seeks voluntary tax for upkeep ; State, private funding down

The nonprofit organization that manages the Rose FitzgeraldKennedy Greenway in Boston will seek to raise up to $3 million foroperations through a voluntary tax levied on commercial propertyowners abutting the 15-acre park system.

Directors of the group said yesterday that they will ask theproperty owners to pledge funds this year, with the hope of gettingcity approval for the tax in early 2012. The proceeds would be usedto improve the downtown parks with new amenities and special events,and help maintain the landscaping and fountains along its length.

The Greenway's budget has come under strain in recent years dueto declining state aid and flat funding from private donors.Yesterday, the group elected a new chairwoman who said her toppriority is to create a financial model that will sustain the parks.

"There needs to be a steady source of income for thehorticulture, maintenance, and programming of the Greenway," saidGeorgia Murray, the new chairwoman of the Rose Fitzgerald KennedyGreenway Conservancy. "There's a big difference between 19th-century urban parks and 21st-century urban parks. What we do in themis different and how they are maintained is different."

The Greenway, for example, has wireless Internet service, dozensof intricate lighting systems, geyser fountains, and other amenitiesthat are designed to set it apart from Boston Common and otherpastoral parks that have fewer mechanical systems and require lessupkeep.

To levy the voluntary tax, organizers must get at least 60percent of the commercial property owners to agree to participate ina business improvement district, which then must be approved theBoston City Council. The tax would be based on the amount ofproperty each owner holds.

The effort would also have to be coordinated with theMassachusetts Department of Transportation, which controls about 50percent of the Greenway's annual funding. A spokesman said theTransportation Department is mindful of financial needs of theGreenway and intends to work with the city and the conservancy to create the improvement district.

The Transportation Department's funding for the Greenway droppedby one-quarter, to $2.2 million in the current fiscal year,underscoring the need for a more predictable revenue source. Murraysaid the conservancy's goal is to raise about $7 million a year forannual operations, closer to what is raised for other large urbanspaces such as Millennium Park in Chicago.

Even if the Greenway district is approved, commercial propertyowners could opt out of the tax. That provision has sapped moneyfrom the city's only other improvement district, in DowntownCrossing, where Equity Office and other large landlords havedeclined to provide about $1 million in annual funding.

Equity Office also owns several buildings along the Greenway. Thecompany refused to comment on a Greenway tax yesterday, although itis involved with a group of property owners that is evaluating theidea of an improvement district.

Several other abutters are more enthusiastic about paying thevoluntary tax. Among them are Donald Chiofaro, who developedInternational Place, the largest office complex along the Greenway,and developer Robert Beal, whose firm is headquartered along theparks.

Boston Properties, which is finishing a 31-story building alongthe Greenway, said it is still evaluating its participation. Thebusiness group A Better City is working with abutters and the conservancy to study the formation of the district.

Murray said the effort is in its early stages and several detailsstill have to be worked out, including the precise boundaries of thedistrict, what services it would pay for, and who would control itsfunding.

Typically, an improvement district has a board composed partly ofproperty owners managing its finances. In this case, however, such aboard would overlap with the Greenway Conservancy, creating twogroups with responsibility to improve and maintain the parks.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino's administration has made clear it doesnot want confusion over park management, although it backs theimprovement district.

"There are a lot of details to be worked out, but we think theGreenway needs additional funding sources to reach the potential wethink it can reach," said Kairos Shen, Menino's chief of planning."The intention is to make the horticulture and programming of theGreenway sing."

Casey Ross can be reached at cross@globe.com.

UNKEMPT GREENWAY

See photos from last summer of areas of the Greenway that hadfallen victim to a lack of maintenance at www.boston.com/business.

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