We typically don’t write editorials about taxing bodies we don’t cover.
But with all that has transpired concerning the proposed TIF district along 55th Street in Clarendon Hills — and its potential impact on Hinsdale school districts — we feel compelled to share a few observations.
First, a tax increment financing district — or TIF — is a complicated mechanism Illinois law allows local governments to use to redevelop a certain area to eliminate blight or prevent its onset. Without going into all the details here, the TIF basically freezes the value of properties in the district and invests any property taxes on new growth back into the TIF. After the area has been redeveloped and the TIF district ends, usually at 23 years, all taxing bodies benefit from the new growth. As a result of a TIF, taxing districts — including Community Consolidated Elementary District 181 and Hinsdale High School District 86 in this case — lose the incremental tax revenue they would have received on growth in the district.
(You can read a full explanation in the sidebar to the “Public hearing on TIF set for Sept. 16” article on our website at http://www.thehinsdalean.com.)
How does the Clarendon Hills Village Board plan to redevelop 55th Street between Western and Holmes avenues? We’re not entirely sure. The village has provided one long report (the 62-page redevelopment proposal created by Ryan LLC) that refers to another long report (the 52-page 55th Street Sub-Area Plan).
The new redevelopment proposal refers to or quotes the village’s 55th Street Sub-Area Plan (approved in November 2017) 44 times with no link to the document. A search of the village’s website generates a link to the 52-page plan. We wonder why that link wasn’t included with the TIF information.
The new TIF proposal lists a number of development goals but no specifics. The only real details can be found in the $29.2 million budget for things like property acquisition, demolition and environmental cleanup, and public works improvement. If a dollar figure is attached to these costs, trustees must have some idea which properties they intend to purchase. And without providing more details, residents and school board members are left to guess.
The 2017 plan lists the shopping center anchored by Jewel-Osco as the sub-area’s “most important commercial entity” and notes the store was remodeled in 2015 and continues to perform well. In contrast, the TIF proposal states the “advanced age of the Jewel retail center makes it potentially obsolete” due to factors such as “unattractiveness and/or the availability of more attractive alternative options.”
Village officials also seem to have done a poor job communicating with the school districts. District 181 received an intergovernmental agreement proposal from the village, which also included Districts 86 and 60, without ever having any discussions with the village. D181 officials also questioned why the agreement included the two other districts. Since that time, D181 has received an agreement proposal between just the district and the village, which is being reviewed by attorneys.
Whether the village can create revenue-sharing agreements with the school districts will affect viewpoints at the public hearing on the TIF, which was continued from Aug. 19 to Monday Sept. 16.
After the public hearing, the Clarendon Hills trustees will need to vote on the TIF. Because a group called a Joint Review Board voted against the TIF, a super-majority of at least five of the seven village board members must vote in favor for it to pass.
Over the next 18 days, we hope Clarendon Hills trustees will do a better job of communicating with the school districts and residents about their plans. If they’re not ready to do that, they’re certainly not ready to enact at TIF.
