Businesses in favor of taxing themselves

?Higher property taxes could be in store for some Seattle businesses if the City Council votes to create a Business Improvement Area (BIA) in SODO and expand Pioneer Square's existing BIA. The Council held the first round of public comments on the proposals at a meeting this morning, which drew both supporters — including Starbucks, the Seattle Underground Tour and SODO real estate company American Life — and detractors (Silver Cloud Hotels and recording studio owner Jodi Opitz). “The only way I’d be interested in paying more taxes is if they were going to create green spaces and hold sports teams accountable for cleaning up after games,” Opitz said.Supporters of the plan want to use the money to hire cleanup crews and private security patrols to combat litter, vagrancy and graffiti, along with administrative staff to press the mayor and city cops for more police patrols, according to Jeffrey Long, a representative of the SODO Business Association. That's a far cry from the typical purposes of a BIA: Sidewalk improvements and planters are classic examples. - B.L.