Carpentersville says it's time for tax study

Trustees in Carpentersville gave the go-ahead for a Chicago-based financial consultant to conduct a $15,000 study to determine whether three areas of the village are eligible for a special taxing district.

After an hour-long discussion Tuesday night, board members voted 6 to 1 to approve the study. Trustee Paul Humpfer dissented.

Areas the consultant will now study as possible tax increment financing districts are: Lake Marian Road to Route 25 and Route 25 from L.W Besinger Drive to the village's northern border, as well as the Route 31 strip mall and the northwest corner of Route 31 and Main Street.

In a TIF district, property tax levels are frozen for a period of up to 23 years.

The designation freezes the amount of property tax revenue the local governments get from within the district. As property values increase within the district, the tax revenues above the frozen level are used to pay for infrastructure improvements within the TIF district.

While most board members supported the study, Humpfer argued the village did not have a plan for what it wanted to see in the area.

"There needs to be some give and take on what does the village want and what does the developer want, and then come to an agreement," Humpfer said. "We have not done that. We are putting the incentive out first ... and moving into a position of weakness. We need to articulate what the village wants."

However, Frank Scarpelli, a property manager with Improved Besinger Properties -- which owns property along Route 25 -- cautioned the village against establishing a plan first.

"Having a plan means you are bonding against what you are hoping will happen," said Scarpelli, who prior to the vote said Besinger Properties supported the study.

"But what you hope will happen might not happen with the assessments out there and you end up upside down."

In the end, a majority of the board agreed the study should move along.

"We need to do something. We are looking for economic development and we need to step up and take a risk," Trustee Kay Teeter said. "It is important for us to do the study. This is the first phase of it."