Des Plaines Ward 5 candidates weigh in on taxing districts

Three candidates vying for Des Plaines' 5th Ward alderman seat on April 7 say the city needs to re-evaluate special taxing districts, especially one that's bleeding money.

Des Plaines has five tax increment financing districts, the tool used by local governments for more than 20 years to revitalize rundown parts of town and jump-start stagnant areas. In a TIF, increases in tax revenue pay for redevelopment costs rather than going to schools and other taxing units.

One of those districts, TIF 3 created in 2000 to spur redevelopment of 47 acres of industrial property just north of the Des Plaines oasis on the I-90 Tollway, is facing $9 million in losses over the next 14 years because increased taxes won't cover the money the city spent to spur redevelopment.

City officials are trying to avoid that by restructuring the roughly $16 million original debt and getting various taxing units to agree to extending the life of the TIF district by 12 years.

Candidate James Brookman says that's not enough and city officials need to figure out what went wrong with the district. Brookman, 58, is a retired Des Plaines firefighter and husband of 5th Ward Alderman Carla Brookman, who is leaving due to term limits.

Brookman said the deficit was created because the city had provisions built into its contract with the developer that penalized the city if it didn't make the closing date.

"I think the TIF 3 situation needs to be investigated because we don't know why that happened," Brookman said. "Was the legal firm incompetent, or was the agreement designed to give enormous benefits to the developers?"

The Rosemont-based developer purchased the land from the city for one-fourth the cost. Also, new buildings constructed in the district were granted Cook County 6b tax abatements, which cut property tax revenues in half.

Candidate Daniel Winiecki said he doesn't like the city using TIF districts for redevelopment and the city jumped the gun on TIF 3.

"We are an established town, and if one was needed to improve an area, I would really have to be convinced," Winiecki said. "We're sitting on one that we're losing money on. It costs us more money for the TIF districts. If we are guaranteed a 'big box' company, a hotel, fine. We can do it."

Winiecki, 56, a traffic safety manager for a warehouse company, said in this economy, he would rather support the city giving tax revenues to existing businesses to upgrade their buildings.

"We are getting tax revenues from these companies, so why don't we give them the tax break and have them modernize the area," he said. "There's more things we got to do in Des Plaines besides TIF districts."

Write-in candidate Eric Obenberger, 39, an accountant who was thrown off the April 7 ballot due to irregularities with his petition, said city officials should have modeled the TIF districts after successful districts in other cities.

"I don't think the proper due diligence was done before deciding to enter into these TIF districts," Obenberger said. "There hasn't been one successful one in the city. In Des Plaines, we don't have a successful one to model after."

Obenberger said he is not opposed to using TIF districts as a tool for redevelopment, but he said the city already has too many.

"We keep repeating the same mistakes," he said.