Schaumburg plans special tax district to ensure maintenance of trucking firm's HQ
Schaumburg trustees will hold a public hearing Tuesday about the creation of a special taxing area that will allow the village to collect property taxes from a trucking company to pay for land maintenance the firm wouldn't or couldn't do itself at its new headquarters.
The district would encompass the planned headquarters of Experior Transport, to be built on 55 acres near the Schaumburg Regional Airport. Trustees approved the controversial plan in April.
Village Attorney Lance Malina said there is no expectation Schaumburg will inherit maintenance responsibilities for the property. But the creation of a dormant special service area will serve as a backup plan, ensuring Experior bears the financial burden of any work the village deems necessary, without the delay and uncertainty of litigation.
Establishing dormant SSAs is not an uncommon practice, and this one doesn't reflect any distrust with Experior, Malina added. The village recently created a similar taxing district for Nitti Development's 149-home project on 62 acres previously owned by Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 on Summit Drive.
Village trustees backed the Experior plan despite objections from the site's neighbors in Roselle and unincorporated Schaumburg Township, who raised concerns about noise, pollution and truck traffic.
The project's wetland impacts and their mitigation became a particular concern of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and then the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, as the two agencies successively claimed primary jurisdiction over those environmental issues.
Whether caused by a disagreement over the necessity of maintenance or a future closing of the facility, the SSA would guarantee the property owner be taxed to reimburse the village for any work regarding wetlands, sewer and water utilities, or some other issue that it would have to address, officials said.
"You want to make sure someone takes care of it," Mayor Tom Dailly said.
Because Experior is the only property owner in the proposed SSA, it was the only one legally notified of the hearing at 7 p.m. Tuesday at village hall, 101 Schaumburg Court. But anyone can voice questions and concerns during the public forum, Malina said.
Normally, such a public hearing would be followed by a 60-day period in which objections can be filed. But because Experior already has waived its right to object in writing, approval of the special service area could occur at either of next month's village board meetings, Sept. 13 or 27.
The village already has created a tax increment financing district for the land, allowing a portion of its property taxes to go toward the nearly $20 million in unanticipated wetland mitigation and other site costs identified by the Army Corps, rather than to local governments.
Experior completed its purchase of the 55 acres from the village for $7.5 million in May. The development is projected to create more than 200 jobs and generate more than $425,000 per year for the village through taxes on truck and fuel sales, officials said.