Streamwood backs property tax breaks for local manufacturers

Three Streamwood manufacturers are urging Cook County to extend their property tax breaks for another 12 years.

Streamwood village officials have backed the bids by Aluminum Coil Anodizing, Corp., KSO MetalFab, Inc. and Brolite Products, Inc. That support meets one of the requirements for the county's Class 6B tax incentive.

If the Cook County Board approves the tax breaks, the companies' properties would be assessed at 10 percent of their market value for a decade; 15 percent for the 11th year; and 20 percent for the final year. Without the incentive, industrial sites are typically assessed at 25 percent.

That translates into cuts to property taxes - by about half - for the first 10 years.

The perk is meant to lure new manufacturers, spur expansion of existing ones and keep the coveted employers from moving to neighboring counties with more favorable tax rates. The three Streamwood businesses employ a total of nearly 160 full-time and part-time workers, village officials say.

"It's one of the few mechanisms available to Cook County municipalities to help our businesses be competitive with surrounding communities," Streamwood Village Manager Gary O'Rourke said. "Since we border DuPage and Kane (counties) so closely, this has been something very important for us to attract and maintain industrial businesses and the jobs they provide."

KSO MetalFab has expressed an interest in building an addition onto a 35,000-square-foot facility along Roma Jean Parkway, Streamwood Finance Director Mary Johnson said. The family-owned business is seeking a second extension of one of its two Class 6B incentives.

Aluminum Coil Anodizing first secured a Class 6B tax incentive in 1996 with a pledge to grow production space in a Lake Street factory. Cook County renewed the incentive - applying to a 8,300-square-foot addition - in 2004.

Brolite, a maker of ingredient blends for bakers and other products, also wants second extension for a 21,000-square-foot building on Park Avenue.

Since the creation of the Class 6B incentive, Streamwood officials have recommended 48 applications.