Long Grove set on Sunset Foods tax rebate

Long Grove ironed out the details of its agreement for the Sunset Grove development Tuesday and also finalized a sales-tax rebate for the Sunset Foods in the complex.

Village President Maria Rodriguez said the sales-tax issue has been discussed since the village first started talking to Sunset Foods about coming into town.

"That's not unusual for towns to do," she said. "It was our incentive to encourage Sunset to commit to Long Grove."

The rebate -- which is only for the grocery store and not the other five buildings in the development -- will be at 100 percent of the municipal sales tax initially and then be phased out over five years. There is a cap of $1 million on the rebate, Rodriguez said.

The board also discussed the agreements for the water and sewer systems with Sunset Grove.

Rodriguez said the board has committed $3 million of tax increment financing district money for the Sunset Grove project. The TIF district was created to encourage the project on Route 83 and also to have funds to go toward renovating downtown.

The TIF funds will go toward outside improvements in the development, Rodriguez said, such as configuration of Route 83. The funds will come from increased property taxes which the development will generate.

Mike Firsel, the developer, said his company hopes to start construction on May 1. The grocery store has a tentative opening date in August 2009.