Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Are Crystal Lakers TIFed Off Enough to Stop the Crystal Lake City Council from Approving the Vulcan Lakes Tax Increment Financing District Tonight?
“We want our 40% impact fees back,” Kirk Reimer, district director told McHenry County Blog. “They missed the main point we had.”
When the city council increased developer impact fees for parks, it decided that the park district would only receive 60% of the new figure—about the dollar amount under the old formula. The other 40%, upwards of $200,000 annually, would be earmarked for improvements at Vulcan Lakes.
The proposed intergovernmental agreement ignores the park district goal of getting 100% of the new fees.
However, instead of having assessments frozen at the pre-TIF level for the TIF district, local governments will usually see their tax base increase annually by 5%. That is more than the inflation-driven township multiplier has yielded since the Property Tax Cap went into effect in the early 1990’s.
Last night at its board meeting, District 47 withdrew its opposition to the Vulcan Lakes proposal and voted to enter into the intergovernmental agreement. City consultants say the deal will result in $7.7 million in additional tax revenue going to local governments over the 23-year TIF period.
City authorities seemed start playing “nice-nice” with the Crystal Lake Park District the Friday after the December TIF meeting. But, even though it was made clear that regaining 100% of the recreational developer impact fees was the district’s primary objective, the intergovernmental agreement says nothing about it.
The fact remains, however, that the other two TIF districts will end up taking money out of homeowners’ and business property owners’ pockets. That’s because for every dollar of assessed valuation lost to a TIF district, schools and parks and every other local government can raise their tax rates enough to recoup the entire amount. And, since it cannot come out of the increases in assessed valuation along
It will come out of everyone else’s pockets.
There is one other small silver lining in the expected delayed approval:
The TIF tax shifts could still be a potent future re-election issue. Future opponents will be able to argue persuasively that council members who voted for at least the first two TIFs forced homeowners’ tax bills higher than they would have been otherwise.
For the rest of the TIF stories found on McHenry County Blog, click here.
To return to McHenry County Blog, click here.
When the city council increased developer impact fees for parks, it decided that the park district would only receive 60% of the new figure—about the dollar amount under the old formula. The other 40%, upwards of $200,000 annually, would be earmarked for improvements at Vulcan Lakes.
The proposed intergovernmental agreement ignores the park district goal of getting 100% of the new fees.
However, instead of having assessments frozen at the pre-TIF level for the TIF district, local governments will usually see their tax base increase annually by 5%. That is more than the inflation-driven township multiplier has yielded since the Property Tax Cap went into effect in the early 1990’s.
Last night at its board meeting, District 47 withdrew its opposition to the Vulcan Lakes proposal and voted to enter into the intergovernmental agreement. City consultants say the deal will result in $7.7 million in additional tax revenue going to local governments over the 23-year TIF period.
City authorities seemed start playing “nice-nice” with the Crystal Lake Park District the Friday after the December TIF meeting. But, even though it was made clear that regaining 100% of the recreational developer impact fees was the district’s primary objective, the intergovernmental agreement says nothing about it.
The fact remains, however, that the other two TIF districts will end up taking money out of homeowners’ and business property owners’ pockets. That’s because for every dollar of assessed valuation lost to a TIF district, schools and parks and every other local government can raise their tax rates enough to recoup the entire amount. And, since it cannot come out of the increases in assessed valuation along
· Virginia Street (Route 14 from McDonald’s to Burger King) or
· Main Street (think the old Hines Lumber property and Oak Manufacturing) or
It will come out of everyone else’s pockets.
There is one other small silver lining in the expected delayed approval:
Because the Vulcan Lakes TIF district will not have been in effect as of January 1st, Algonquin Township Assessor will be able to capture whatever increase in fair market value has occurred at the Conlon-Collins Ford dealership and other property along Route 14. And, whatever increase is found could conceivably lower tax bills a little bit for the rest of us.
The TIF tax shifts could still be a potent future re-election issue. Future opponents will be able to argue persuasively that council members who voted for at least the first two TIFs forced homeowners’ tax bills higher than they would have been otherwise.
For the rest of the TIF stories found on McHenry County Blog, click here.
To return to McHenry County Blog, click here.
# posted by Cal Skinner : 10:13 AM
