Carpentersville will use TIF money to begin Old Town improvement projects
Carpentersville is getting a head start on funding some proposed Old Town improvement projects by using revenue from an older tax increment financing district.
The village board on Tuesday approved of transferring $2.4 million in incremental tax revenue from the Spring Hill Center for Commerce and Industry TIF district, which expires in 2018, to the recently established Old Town TIF district.
That money will go toward fulfilling several of the village's redevelopment goals, Village Manager Mark Rooney said, including improving the intersection at Washington and Main streets, burying overhead utilities along South Washington Street and renovating the riverbank.
“This helps us take a look at other things in this Old Town area to help foster business development as well,” Trustee Paul Humpfer said.
Officials expect the Spring Hill Center TIF district to accumulate an additional $2.5 million within the next few years, according to village documents.
In a TIF district, the property tax revenues that go to local governments are frozen for 23 years at a certain level, which is set on a base assessed property value. Any taxes generated above that level can go back into redevelopment within that district.
As per state law, the funds from the Spring Hill Center TIF district along Commerce Parkway can also be used in the contiguous Old Town TIF district, which stretches along Route 31, across the Fox River, along part of the riverfront and east to Wilmette Avenue.
In a memo to the village board, TIF Project Manager Marty Bourke said costs for engineering and possible construction to improve traffic flow at Washington and Main streets is estimated at $3.9 million. Replacing a culvert along Washington and Spring streets adds $200,000 to the bill.
Burying utilities on South Washington Street is expected to cost $1.1 million, according to village documents, and the anticipated cost of a Fox River riverbank renovation is $425,000.
The transferred TIF funds could offset those costs and expenses of other capital improvement projects, he said.
“Ultimately, the immediate and future transfer of these funds and the redevelopment of (the Old Town area) will reap many financial, physical and aesthetic benefits for the village, the property owners within and adjacent to the TIF and the underlying governmental districts serving the community at large,” Bourke said.