Auto dealer pact to ease Buffalo Grove sales tax blow

An agreement with two auto dealerships will lessen some of the sales tax blow for Buffalo Grove when those two entities move out of town within the next year.

The village board on Monday approved tax incentives with the Bob Rohrman Auto Group to ensure that when dealerships move into an auto mall in Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove will have other dealerships in place.

Arlington Nissan, at 915 W. Dundee Road, is expected to move to Arlington Heights within the next two weeks, according to Mark Battista, director of the Rohrman Group.

The Arlington Chrysler Jeep at 925 W. Dundee Road will move into the auto mall down the street at Dundee and Wilke roads in about a year.

The agreement with that dealership includes sharing half of the sales tax for new revenue generated from a replacement Dodge dealership on that site. That incentive would last a year, and if the Dodge dealership leaves within a year, the Rohrman Group would pay double of the incentives received.

The company plans on replacing the Arlington Nissan with a Saturn dealership and the village agreed to pay for costs necessary to update and renovate the current facility.

The 10-year plan also has the village and the Rohrman Group sharing half of the sales tax, up to $2 million.

Buffalo Grove was looking at losing about $1 million in sales tax with the loss of the two car dealers and with a third Toyota auto lot moving into Palatine.

Trustee Jeff Braiman said that, although the board doesn't like handing out tax incentives, it seemed warranted in this situation.

"This will assure us, at least for the time being, that we'll have a solidified tax base," he said.

Battista said the Rohrman Auto Group has had a good relationship with Buffalo Grove and wants that to continue.

"We love the community," he said.

He said the company is also looking at other properties in Buffalo Grove to locate a third dealership, which could happen within the next two years.

He said plans for the Saturn dealership could be going through the village's building department this week, and construction could begin within one or two months.

"We hope we'll have an opportunity to be partners for many years to come," Village President Elliott Hartstein said.