New Member Resource Guide Available

Whether you're new to the BID, know someone who is, or simply need a refresher, we've created a new Member Resource Guide to help you navigate your membership. From information on our programs and services, to useful community links, instructions for creating your online account and submitting events, our social media handles, and more, this Georgetown BID 101 has you covered. Best of all, it's only two pages! Only the most important and useful information, at your fingertips. For more information on this guide, or our Member Center, please contact Office Resources Coordinator Jessica Lawson at jlawson@georgetowndc.com.

Reminder: Member Meeting March 7!

One final, friendly reminder to join the Georgetown BID this Thursday, March 7, from 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm at Dyllan's Raw Bar Grill (located in Canal Square at 1054 31st Street in the Hollerith Room) for our next general member meeting. The formal meeting program will take place from 3:30 - 4:30 pm, and will include updates on:

2019 Georgetown BID events
Georgetown BID's 20th anniversary
C&O Canal revitalization

Networking and drinks will follow from 4:30 - 5 pm.

We look forward to seeing you there! Please click here to register using the password georgetown.

Corned Beef & Cabbage Go Corporate

Bring the luck of the Irish to your office and celebrate St. Patrick's Day with Ri Ra's traditional Irish catering, available March 9-15. Shepherd's pie, Guinness BBQ meatballs, fish and chips bites, soda bread, corned beef and cabbage--we'll raise a pint to that! (After work hours, of course.) Click here for more information.

Are You Prepared For Paid Leave?

Below is a message from the Federal City Council that we wanted to pass on, regarding the implementation of a government-managed paid leave program for DC employees. Read this one all the way through; there's a call to action at the end!

"In 2016, DC Council passed legislation creating a government-managed paid leave program for all workers in the District of Columbia. It became effective April 7, 2017 without the Mayor’s signature. The law provides eight weeks of parental leave, six weeks to care for an ailing family member and two weeks in the event of a personal illness. It will be funded by a 0.62 percent payroll tax on all employers, at an estimated cost of $246 million per year. According to the statute, the government will start collecting revenue from employers on July 1, 2019 and benefits will become available to employees on July 1, 2020.

"The District of Columbia government determined that it would need to build new technology solutions to administer the paid leave program and collect the new payroll tax. Earlier this month the Mayor submitted to the DC Council, and the DC Council approved, a contract for $4.7 million with the company Sagitec to develop a system to collect the payroll tax. Now that the contract has been approved, the work can begin.

"We are sending this alert out to our members because—given the fast-approaching July 1, 2019 deadline—with only five months to implementation, the DC Government has communicated no information to employers or payroll administration companies on how and when the taxes will be collected. We are concerned there isn’t enough time to develop a new payroll collection system and adequately train employers on how to transmit tax payments. If you share these concerns, have other concerns or if this topic is of interest to you, please let us know by emailing Kevin Clinton at kclinton@federalcitycouncil.org and we will set up a special meeting with government officials responsible for the program.'"

Something You Can Count on Every Year

In case you missed last week's BIDness (you're forgiven), we released our FY2018 Annual Report, highlighting key accomplishments and commercial district developments in the areas of economic development, public space enhancements, street services, transportation, and marketing & events programming. Read it here!

Help Us Help You: Take the Safety Survey!

The Georgetown BID recently put together a Georgetown Public Safety Survey to gather more information on everything from shoplifting concerns to future public safety meetings. The survey is brief and will help us better serve the community. If you haven't done so already, please take a moment to fill it out this week.