About Marda Loop BIA Calgary | Visit Marda Loop (original) (raw)

Business Improvement Areas (BIAs) are business organizations that work to improve and promote a district. They are established by City Council in response to an initiative by businesses in a specific area. All businesses within the boundary are automatically members of the BIA.

There are 15 BIAs in Calgary. Marda Loop BIA was one of the first, established in 1984. There are thousands of BIAs and like organizations in North America and worldwide.

The BIA is governed by a Board of Marda Loop business owners and representatives who are elected by members at an Annual General Meeting. The Board sets the BIA’s budget, which is mostly funded by an annual levy on businesses that is administered by The City of Calgary.

ABOUT THE BIA LEVY (BIA TAX)

The BIA Tax (we prefer the term Levy) is set by the Board of business members annually to pay for BIA operations and capital expenditures. The cost is divided among all the area businesses proportionate to an Assessment of each business made by the City’s tax department. Factors that go into the Business Assessment include square footage, age and type of property. Note that the levy goes to business owners, not to the property owners. Here is a link to the City’s Business Valuation Methodology (PDF). Like property tax assessments, business assessments can be appealed. You can learn more about the BIA Tax and Assessments here.

In 2024 the Marda Loop BIA levy was $220,000, and a mill rate 2.3% of assessment value. The 2024 rate is slightly lower than our ten-year average of 2.47%. The levy “mill rate” is affected primarily by the size of the revenue ask, the number of businesses sharing the load, and the pace of openings and closings. In the last year the BIA grew in number of businesses, but did not increase the levy amount, so the rate went down.