Proposed property tax to hire safety ambassadors downtown

WILMINGTON,NC (WWAY)– The safety issues in downtown Wilmington are nothing new. But, Wilmington Downtown Inc. executive director, John Hinnant says he has a plan that would help.

Hinnant in proposing a five cent tax per $100 of valuation on property in the central business district. With that money, totaling more than $190,000, safety ambassadors would be hired to walk downtown from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.

“They would be uniformed, and unarmed, but they would be equally trained in security and hospitality with a focus to improve the visitor’s experience downtown,” says Hinnant.

But, with most of the crime happening at night, some property owners say this tax would not do much to improve safety downtown.

Izaac Lazar has owned Izaac’s Clothing Store almost forty years. Though he says the tax is not very much, he’s not sure if it would really solve anything.

“I don’t see many problems in downtown Wilmington during the day, and maybe ambassadors could be needed, but this is small compared to the problems that come at night,” says Lazar.

In fact, most of the violent crime downtown happens on the weekends between midnight and 3 a.m., which is hours after the ambassadors go home.

Hinnant says the ambassadors could help fight crime during the day, which would allow for more police to patrol at night.

“It allows the police force to focus their resources on the late night activity, which creates most of the violent crime,” says Hinnant.

Hinnant says he plans to have a few large public meetings in the next couple of months to discuss further details of his proposal.