The Boston City Council voted to create the Downtown Boston Business Improvement District, Boston’s first "BID," which is intended to attract new business and increase the value of property in the area.

The petition, submitted by area property owners and supported by Mayor Thomas M. Menino, was passed on Wednesday.

Building on the services currently provided by the city, Downtown Boston stakeholders are now in a position to benefit from an additional $3.5 million to $4 million per year in dedicated funds raised from, and controlled by, property owners.

"These funds will be devoted solely to reinvigorating and reenergizing Downtown Boston through supplemental initiatives for cleaning, safety, advocacy, marketing, and other similar services, adding much needed vibrancy and cache to the district," said John Rattigan, partner at DLA Piper and co-chair of the BID Steering Committee.

"Services provided by the BID are intended to make the district welcoming to all who visit, reside or work here, including providing ambassadors, cleaning, managing, and improving conditions on streets and sidewalks, coordinating and encouraging private investment to upgrade street-level uses, and improving communication and collaboration among area stakeholders," said John H. Spurr Jr., president of A.W. Perry and co-chair of the BID Steering Committee.

As in the hundreds of other cities across the country and worldwide in which BIDs have been established, the Downtown Boston BID will seek to improve the experience for everyone who works, lives, visits, or goes to school downtown, to attract new business to the area, and to increase the value of all property types in the BID service district, according to a statement.

The BID is expected to launch in 2011.