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Who is the HBA?

The HBA is short for the Hilltop Business Association. The HBA was organized as a 501 C6 organization for the purpose of administering the Self Supported Municipal Improvement District granted by the State of Iowa and City of Davenport. The  SSMID was implemented in 1996 after discussions and local members organizing the petition for approval by the City of  Davenport and State of Iowa. The SSMID has a 20 year span and work has begun to re-authorize the SSMID for another 20 years. The State of Iowa normally requires 25 percent of the assessed valuation and 25 percent of the members to allow for a SSMID. The City of Davenport requests the SSMID area have closer to 50 percent of valuation 50 percent of the members to ratify. The Davenport City Council approved this in the late fall of 1995 with implementation in 1996. The current HBAgroup has ties back to the 1960s and 1970s, when area business leaders worked together to promote the Brady and Harrison Street corridors.

The Hilltop SSMID has a boundary area that starts at 6th and Brady Streets, goes up to Locust Street, over to Harrison Street and back down to 6th Street. The commercial properties and residential properties that are on the historical registry pay an additional tax based on their assessed value. This excess tax is then used by the HBA to make improvements in the SSMID area. Currently 1/3 of this fund is used in the maintenance fund account and 2/3 is used for capital improvements in the SSMID district.

The Board of Directors of the SSMID are elected at the annual meeting in the Spring of each year. The director is elected to a 3-year term. The terms are staggered so that there are three directors elected at the annual meeting. There are nine board members total. The Board of Directors then elects a President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer after the annual meeting. Most of the members are either property owners or representing property owners in the Hilltop  area. The City of Davenport has a non-voting position on the board and acts as a liaison between the HBA and City of Davenport.

The Board has been involved in helping promote the Hilltop area in various ways. Some of the visible projects were converting the Hardee’s property at 15th and Harrison St to the current Hilltop Plaza park. They also authorize the  current Property Improvement Program (PRIMP) that allows members of the Hilltop SSMID to apply for matching grants for improvements on their properties.

The HBA was approached by the City of Davenport with an idea to partner with the Main Street Program. With this  partnership, the Hilltop Campus Village emerged. The two organizations are separate entities, with the same mission to  improve the Hilltop area.

The current board members of the HBA are:
Ron Frantz, President
Tom Amyette, Vice President,
Kelly Wallce, Secretary
Jeff Cook, Treasurer
The following are board members:
Jeff Weindruch,
John Cooper,
Bob Lee,
Martha Spears.

www.hilltopbusinessassociationdavenport.com