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The Oregon City Main Street program is going to live to see another day.

The Oregon City City Council this week approved a new economic improvement district that will tax downtown property owners to help pay for the successful downtown revitalization program. Through the economic improvement district, the 79 properties in it are charged 1 percent of their assessed value, capped at $1,950.

Program officials need the money to keep operating once the program’s annual allotment of $50,000 runs out at the end of the year.

The four-year district should raise as much as $99,000 annually to help fund the program. The program, which is a product of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, helps fund things like downtown streetscape improvements, beautification grants and marketing initiatives.

Main Street Program officials had initially asked for a five-year district that would raise approximately $135,000 annually, but that was shot down because more than 33 percent of the property owners in the district opposed it. Under state law, city officials are only allowed to create an economic improvement district if two thirds or more of the affected property owners approve it. The new district received a property owner approval rating of just under 90 percent.