Arlington Heights rejects petition to protect against tax incentives for proposed Chicago Bears stadium — but the measure could arrive again

Arlington Heights officials turned down a petition to ban village money incentives for the Chicago Bears or any other company, stating that the petition did not have enough legitimate signatures — and warning that this kind of a shift would hurt corporations and taxpayers.

The petition phone calls for the village to create an “Anti-Corporate Welfare Ordinance” that would prohibit any fiscal or other incentive to a enterprise to work in the village. The petition was submitted by People in america for Prosperity Illinois, aspect of a libertarian group backed by the conservative Koch brothers.

Mayor Tom Hayes known as the proposal “a terrible strategy,” indicating it would prohibit any form of tax break or even general public parking that could be deemed a financial incentive for enterprise. He extra that any recommendation of cronyism amongst village officials was “patently untrue and baseless.”

Previous yr, the Bears entered a preliminary purchase arrangement to buy Arlington International Racecourse from Churchill Downs Inc. for $197 million. The workforce is likely by thanks diligence to see irrespective of whether the 326-acre site would satisfy all requirements right before closing the offer late this calendar year or early upcoming year.

To make a shift to Arlington Heights, the staff would have to pay back to break its lease at Soldier Subject in Chicago, where by the group has played for 50 % a century. Mayor Lori Lightfoot has proposed topping the stadium with a $2 billion dome.

Crew officers have mentioned they would not seek taxpayer help to create the stadium, but would require general public support to make infrastructure for the adjoining $5 billion improvement to aspect housing, places of work, retail and leisure.

A village ordinance makes it possible for the village board to look at approving a referendum on a petition if it gets supporting signatures from 1% of registered voters, or 557 people today.

People for Prosperity Illinois submitted 667 signatures Sept. 6, but some signatures didn’t match registered signatures, experienced no signature, experienced incorrect or no names, or the signees did not stay in Arlington Heights, leaving only 544 valid signatures, Village Supervisor Randall Recklaus reported.

Petitioners may possibly often incorporate far more signatures. If the board nonetheless rejects the proposal, petitioners might get signatures from 12% of registered voters to place the measure on the ballot.

People for Prosperity has mentioned a referendum would be binding, but village Lawyer Hart Passman said it would not, stating that absolutely nothing in the ordinance or point out law supplies for it to be binding.

Recklaus gave an overview of how tax incentives have been extremely profitable in attracting and trying to keep organizations that reduced homeowners’ assets tax burden.

Most appreciably, he stated, the village’s downtown was effectively rebuilt via a Tax Increment Financing, or TIF, district. Less than the TIF, any boosts in residence taxes from downtown were being plowed back into enhancements of the space, these kinds of as utilities and roads.

While the TIF was in outcome from 1983 to 2006, annual assets tax revenue amplified from $650,000 to $6.5 million, he explained. After the TIF expired immediately after 23 many years, that dollars was dispersed to all nearby taxing bodies.

The outcome has been a thriving downtown, with higher-rise condominiums and flats, eating places, a theater, and three general public parking parts. A ban on incentives could even be interpreted to ban public parking, and to remove use of village streets for the downtown’s al fresco eating, Recklaus claimed.

Other village packages have presented gross sales tax rebates and small-curiosity or forgivable financial loans to help corporations survive the COVID pandemic or other troubles.

In the case of the Bears, a TIF could pay for new sewers and other infrastructure, this sort of as proposed new ramps to take targeted visitors from Illinois Route 53 less than Northwest Freeway and railroad tracks to the stadium.

Even though some TIFs and stadium tasks elsewhere have unsuccessful, Recklaus mentioned, any new Arlington Heights TIF would only be authorized if it is revealed that it would crank out income to a lot more than pay for all village bills. Prohibiting these bargains would set the village at a extreme competitive drawback, and probably diminish its tax base.

Us citizens for Prosperity produced a recent poll which identified that 68% of Arlington Heights voters polled opposed using tax dollars for the Bears, in contrast to 22% in help. The poll also identified that 55% supported the anti-company welfare ordinance.

The group’s deputy point out director, Brian Costin, earlier issued a assertion that read, “”Arlington Heights is proposing the premier company welfare offer in Village heritage for a billionaire owner in the richest sporting activities leisure organization in the environment. Not only is this unique therapy unfair to people and other company house owners, but a large the greater part of economists polled on athletics stadium subsidies discovered them to be a bad deal for taxpayers.”

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