Long Grove TIF question on ballot, but district is already in place

Long Grove voters will be faced with a question about establishing a tax increment financing district on their Nov. 4 ballots.

The problem is, the TIF district has already been approved by the village board. The referendum question being asked of voters is a citizen-backed initiative that won't change something that's already been established.

However, the residents who pushed for the item to be on the ballot still want to hear the opinions of the village's residents.

"The goal is just to put on record what the residents want," said Dee McLaughlin, one of the supporters of having the referendum question on the ballot. "It may impact future boards, in regards to the phases of the TIF district."

McLaughlin was one of the many residents who was unhappy with the way the village went about putting the TIF district in place for downtown development.

The district freezes assessments in the downtown and surrounding areas for 23 years; property taxes on any increase in the assessments is put into a fund to be used for development and upgrades to the area rather than going to taxing bodies such as schools.

McLaughlin said residents weren't given enough opportunity to learn about and comment on the issue, going against the board's contention that the village discussed the idea for two years.

"It's such a complex issue; it's very difficult to understand under the very best of circumstances," she said. "It appeared that the residents were included, but I don't believe that the residents had a chance for meaningful input."

Back in February, when the board was close to voting on the prospect, a group of residents presented the petition with more than 300 signatures calling for the referendum in the hopes that trustees would put off the vote.

However, the board approved the TIF district and the residents decided to go ahead with putting the question on the ballot.

"The referendum was simply about the residents having a voice in the issue," McLaughlin said.

Maria Rodriguez, village president, said she feels the board did its due diligence in approving a TIF district.

"We really investigated that thoroughly for two years," she said. "We felt it was done very, very responsibly."

She said the board laid out public meetings dedicated specifically to the TIF plan and followed that schedule for resident input until trustees were sure that questions were answered.

"It was very carefully done," she said.