January 6th, 2023 by WCBC Radio

Although the future of Cumberland’s Downtown Development Commission, and more specifically the so-called “mall tax”, has been in question for several years- those talks could escalate once construction gets underway on the downtown mall redesign. Since the debt to brick over the mall was retired in 2013-  some city officials and business owners have sought to phase out or sharply reduce the DDC’s special mall tax- which as a result could lead to abolishing or consolidating the DDC. The DDC oversees the maintenance and promotion of the downtown using the mall tax funds collected by the city to  provide for special trash pickup, landscaping, snow removal, general maintenance and help with the setting up and tearing down of events. During this week’s work session, Council member Laurie Marchini said the assumption is that the planned re-opening of the mall and renovations will have a definite impact on future DDC operations…

City solicitor Mike Cohen and Mayor Ray Morriss agreed that it is a topic that will need to be addressed…