Grayslake develops incentives for auto dealers
Grayslake wants to become part of Lake County's automobile row landscape.
Village officials have developed a list of potential financial incentives that could be offered as part of a plan to recruit or retain dealerships. Officials said attracting car dealers would boost local sales tax receipts and create jobs.
The village's general guidelines state dealers that generate a minimum of $200,000 in annual local sales tax for Grayslake and create or retain at least 30 full-time jobs would be eligible for the incentives. Officials said the inducements would be offered on a case-by-case basis and modeled after a package that was declined for unspecified reasons by Rock Chevrolet in Grayslake, the village's lone new-car dealer.
Village Manager Mike Ellis said officials are pleased Rock Chevrolet will remain in town without the proposed incentives. However, he added, inducements likely would be necessary to land other dealerships.
"The idea is, the more auto dealers in the same place strengthens the auto dealer that's already here," Ellis said in explaining the need for financial incentives.
Grayslake now has auto dealerships on its to-do list because of the success generated by a similar effort initiated for hotels. Ellis said Comfort Suites at routes 120 and 45 was built in 2009 as a result of hotel recruitment effort.
In addition, the dealership desire comes just weeks after the Grayslake village board approved an ordinance that would allow creation of a sales tax in a new business district for the roughly 100-acre former Lake County Fairgrounds site.
If a sales tax were enacted for a retail project on the l and at routes 45 and 120, the revenue would be used for reimbursement of redevelopment and infrastructure costs.
Officials said if an automobile dealership is found to have interest in Grayslake, possible incentives would include sales tax rebates, property tax abatements, permit waivers and infrastructure assistance.
Sales tax rebates wouldn't eclipse 50 percent of annual local sales tax revenue from the business, under the incentive proposal.
Officials said deals also could involve providing a lump-sum payment of up to 50 percent of the total incentive amount.
Village board trustees would reference the parameters if they need to execute a specific agreement with a car business.
"If we have the framework ready, then we're good to go if something happens," Trustee Shawn Vogel said.
One example of what Grayslake potentially could gain financially is in nearby Libertyville, which has a Milwaukee Avenue strip of 13 dealerships.
In 2013, the last full calendar year for which state figures are available, Libertyville's amount received from the automotive and filling stations category was about $3.9 million or 62 percent of the $6.3 million sales tax total.
While in favor of trying to entice auto dealers to Grayslake, village Economic Development Commission Chairman Phil Harris cautioned it won't be easy.
He said existing automobile rows in Lake County have had vacancies since some brands folded during the recession.
Harris also said car manufacturers typically dictate where franchised dealerships operate based on a mileage radius between brands and other factors.
"You can't go and say, 'I want to open up Chris' Toyota shop and I think Grayslake is a great place. I believe in Grayslake,'" Harris said. "Toyota is not going to look at you and say, 'Oh, gee, that's a good idea.' They're already going to know if there's a Toyota dealership in Grayslake in the future or not."
Economic Development Commission members have agreed to place Grayslake Business Partnership managing director Michael Stewart in charge of making contacts with dealership decision-makers in the auto manufacturing industry. The business group Stewart heads is a nonprofit, public-private initiative with involvement from the village.