Mundelein gives tax break to Medline

As an incentive to open a new retail office at its Mundelein headquarters, the Medline medical-supply company will receive a portion of the sales tax it generates for the village under a deal approved Monday night.

Medline, which is headquartered at 1200 Townline Road, will receive 1 percent of the sales tax generated by products sold in Illinois. Instead of getting 2 percent of that total sales tax, the village will receive 1 percent, too.

The agreement will last for 20 years and will then automatically renew for an additional 20 years, according to a memo about the deal.

Medline sells medical supplies and related items, including wheelchairs, beds, gloves and wound-care products.

It serves customers around the world.

The proposed retail office is relocating from elsewhere in the Chicago area, officials said Monday.

The deal was approved 5-1.

Trustee Terri Voss was the lone opponent, and she spoke critically of the agreement before the vote.

She said she wanted a promise for future growth at the Medline headquarters, but Village Administrator John Lobaito said that wasn't a requirement of the deal.

That didn't make Voss happy.

"It is my firm believe that this resolution is unacceptable," she said.

In response, Mayor Steve Lentz voiced strong support for the deal.

Medline doesn't have to open its new office in Mundelein, he said.

If the office opens here, it will be the second-largest generator of sales tax in the village, behind Target, Lentz said.

"This is a great opportunity, and we should definitely do this," he said.

Trustee Ed Sullivan also spoke in favor of the deal.

"We weren't getting a penny before," he said.

"I think this is probably as good a deal as we can get."