Community Consolidated Elementary District 181 presented a letter strongly opposing the proposed Tax Increment Financing district along 55th Street in Clarendon Hills at the most recent Joint Review Board meeting Sept. 5.
“To be clear, District 181 supports economic development, and we can even get behind tax increment financing (TIF) in the right situation and when properly deployed,” reads the letter, which was addressed to Clarendon Hills village manager Zachery Creer. “However, we do not support abuse of the TIF tool, and what we see with the proposed 55th Street TIF is just that.”
The letter, which is available on the district’s website at http://www.d181.org, then raises several problems the district has with the TIF. It fails the “but for” test, meaning development in the proposed district will occur even without a TIF; the equalized assessed value of the area is not lagging or declining; the area does not exhibit obsolescence or deleterious land uses; and inadequate utilities and lack of community planning do not support the use of a TIF.
The letter goes on to say the real intent of the TIF is evident.
“It is a mechanism to capture property tax increment from high-performing property tax-producing properties like the Jewel and divert these dollars from other taxing bodies for village infrastructure spending, and all without the village having to take the political inconvenient step of raising taxes,” the letter reads.
District 86 did not provide any information about the meeting to The Hinsdalean.
The Joint Review Board is an advisory group made up of representatives from taxing bodies impacted by the proposed TIF.
The village of Clarendon Hills will hold a public hearing on the proposed TIF at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 16, at Clarendon Hills Village Hall, 1 N. Prospect Ave.
