Shopping District Refresh Project Subsidy (Maebashi City)

(1) Overview: The Maebashi City Shopping District Refresh Project Subsidy (FY R8) supports shopping district associations and similar groups in carrying out repair work on public-road colored pavement, arcades, rest areas and other public facilities, district information signs and flower beds (Type A), and the installation, renovation, repair or removal of street lights and arcade lighting (Type B), with the goal of revitalizing shopping districts and supporting sustainable, safe and secure community-based maintenance of street lighting. (2) Eligible applicants: Groups headquartered in Maebashi that fall under one of the following — shopping district promotion cooperatives under the Shopping District Promotion Cooperatives Act, business cooperatives composed mainly of small and medium-sized merchants under the Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Cooperatives Act, locally organized SME merchant groups, chambers of commerce and industry, commerce and industry societies, or other groups recognized by the mayor — and which satisfy all anti-organized-crime requirements. (3) Eligible expenses and scope: Type A covers repair/improvement costs for public-road colored pavement, arcades and rest areas, district information signs and flower beds (individual-shop advertising signs and consumables are excluded). Type B covers installation, renovation, repair and removal of street lights and arcade lighting, including lease contracts. Equipment less than five years old, street lights newly built / renovated / repaired with this subsidy within the past five years, projects already funded by other municipal subsidies, and projects started before application are excluded. (4) Rate, cap, schedule, key points: Subsidy rate is 1/2. Type A is capped at JPY 500,000; Type B is capped at JPY 2,500,000 per group with per-unit caps of JPY 100,000 for new installation and mercury-lamp-to-LED renovation, JPY 70,000 for other renovation, and JPY 20,000 for removal. Type A and Type B cannot be applied for in the same fiscal year. Applications run from April 1, 2026 to February 28, 2027; construction must be completed and paid for by March 31, 2027. Work must in principle be ordered from contractors based in Maebashi, with quotations from three companies (one in-city contractor accepted for projects under JPY 200,000 or removal-only work). Acceptance ends once the budget is exhausted; amounts are rounded down to the nearest 1,000 yen.