Dist. 214 candidates wary of special tax districts

Even though they have backed the idea in the past, incumbents on District 214’s school board said they are wary of tax increment financing districts. Newcomers looking to get on the board are even more suspicious.

One of those newcomers is Dan Petro, who was president of the Arlington Heights Elementary District 25 board in 2006 when it rejected a request from the village board to extend the time on a downtown TIF district. District 25’s vote killed the idea.

Besides Petro, other candidates are Audrey Collins of Prospect Heights, Gloria Bowman of Arlington Heights and current board members Alva Kreutzer of Elk Grove Village and Bill Dussling of Arlington Heights. Three spots on the board are open.

District 214 is affected by 14 different TIF districts in five villages. The school board has approved two extensions — one in Wheeling and one in Des Plaines. The District 214 board did back the Arlington Heights extension before District 25 voted it down.

“I didn’t think they needed it,” said Petro, an attorney who was on the District 25 board 1997-2009.

“TIF 2 had $200,000 left and instead of giving it back to the schools, (Arlington Heights) built a boulevard in front of Javier’s (Mexican Restaurant.) That money could have benefited the school district.”

In these special tax districts, tax revenue generated by a property’s increasing value is diverted to a special fund that pays for improvements there, such as landscaping or sewer upgrades. Tax increment financing districts are controversial because government agencies such as schools do not receive the increased property tax money for up to 23 years.

Arlington Heights wanted to tack on another 12 years to the life of tis downtown TIF district but dropped the idea after District 25’s vote since state legislators only support extensions if all the taxing bodies affected are on board.

Collins said blighted areas should be developed in 23 years and that extensions aren’t necessary.

“Do we really need another boulevard? Probably not,” she said.

Dussling — who has been on the school board since 1998 — said he’d support future TIF extensions only if villages allocate some serious funds back to District 214 in return.

“I understand they need to take care of blighted areas but they need to use something other than TIFs,” said Dussling, who often attends village meetings throughout the area about TIF funds.

Kreutzer said TIFs would be less of a strain on school districts if they were 13 years instead of 23 years long.

“Twenty three years is a lifetime,” said Kreutzer who has been on the District 214 school board since 1999.

The other candidate, Gloria Bowman, did not return phone calls regarding this article. She has not responded to repeated requests for comment on her candidacy.