Thursday, October 1, 2026
The Olympia City Council unanimously approved a $0 assessment rate for the downtown Parking Business Improvement Area (PBIA) for 2026, amid an ongoing evaluation of the long-standing program.
Established in 2005, the PBIA has served as an economic development tool for downtown Olympia, representing more than 500 businesses. The district allows businesses within its boundaries to self-assess and reinvest funds into downtown services, infrastructure and promotional projects.
Economic Development Division Director Jennica Machado presented the ordinance to council members, explaining that setting the assessment rate to zero for 2026 would allow the city and PBIA advisory board to fully evaluate the program.
“This evaluation is an opportunity to examine our rate structure, equity and long-term operational sustainability,” said Machado to the council at a meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 16.
The city and the PBIA advisory board are conducting the evaluation with consultant firm Uncommon Bridges. Completion is expected by February 2026.
The review includes an assessment of the PBIA’s ratepayer structure and fee rates, identification and tracking methods, administrative practices and resource allocation, as well as the development of a phased roadmap for implementing recommended changes.
Machado said the PBIA Advisory Board unanimously supported extending the $0 assessment rate into 2026.
Concerns about equity in the rate structure and long-term operational sustainability prompted the PBIA to call for a full program evaluation in 2024. The city council approved a resolution outlining the scope of the review and suspending PBIA assessments beginning in 2025.
The council’s action on Dec. 16 extends the $0 assessment rate for 2026 to enable completion and implementation of the evaluation.
The PBIA was initially required to return for renewal every five years, but that sunset clause was removed in 2010, leaving the program without a regular, formal review process.
Over the years, PBIA funds have supported streetscape beautification, cleanup efforts, public art installations and wayfinding signage. The program has also covered administrative and staffing needs, while funding business recruitment, retention, and marketing initiatives aimed at promoting downtown Olympia.
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TheVirtualOne
The Olympia City Council still doesn’t get it. They can study everything to death, but in the end nothing will change. I used to be a regular visitor downtown, but stopped several years ago. The only thing I do anymore is drive through it and see the same old blight, beggars, and drug addicts. I know of many others who feel the same as I do. If you want to get people to go downtown, clean it up and get rid of the cesspool you have allowed to exist there.
Tuesday, December 23, 2025 Report this
PeggyJoZim
I love downtown Olympia. I love the small businesses, the restaurants, the wonderful events, and the art. When visitors are here, we always go downtown. Tumwater and Lacey are great places to live but they don’t have a core, a downtown with shops and restaurants. Yes, we do have people who are unhoused in downtown and so does Tumwater and Lacey. I do think the community policing is making a positive difference.
Wednesday, December 24, 2025 Report this
Arete
I love downtown. I go often. I'll go even more now that I know the virtual one won't be there.
Wednesday, December 24, 2025 Report this
TheVirtualOne
PeggyJoZim - I like the idea of a downtown core, but it must be cared for and maintained. That is what’s missing from Olympia and many other cities. I’ve spent enough time there to observe the open air drug use, the burglaries that’ve become commonplace, the graffiti everywhere, the drug addicts sitting on park benches with heads slumped over, and the Percival Landing children’s playground with used drug needles strewn across it. This has become the new normal and I am against that. I don’t dislike any of the businesses or their owners. On the contrary, I’m supportive of them. But when they have to fight to drug addicts from sleeping in their front doors, and deficating on the sidewalk, that’s just plain wrong. The politically correct term you use “unhoused” should not be used. These are drug addicts and I will not allow my children to go in areas they have taken over because the City Council chooses to put their head in the sand. We have far to go in terms of community policing.
Arete - Your emotional response is a clear indicator of your inability to understand and comprehend criticism of the problem. Personal attacks accomplish nothing but demonstrate your ignorance and childish behavior. Spend some time thinking about the issues and respond to them instead of spewing insults.
Wednesday, December 24, 2025 Report this
TMJesse
Not all of those who appear to be addicts are addicts and it's hard to say what percentage are addicts. Calling all who look like a drug addict a drug addict, or to imply all unpresentable people downtown are one shows ignorance and is not helpful. I knew one person downtown who was assumed by most to be an unhoused drug addict. She had an MA in economics and spoke 7 languages, never took any illegal drugs and very rarely drank. She was banned from all but a few businesses and the Olympia Center. She was just unpresentable and shunned by most.
There is a story that goes with everyone who's "unpresentable" downtown, and each has a different story. It's a very complex problem and I commend the city for working hard to solve it. Maintaining the core is vital. I have not experienced any unusual problems and I go downtown several times a week.
Thursday, December 25, 2025 Report this