Palatine mayor: State’s Bears funding plan could mean debt for village

Palatine Mayor Jim Schwantz warned the current funding framework being considered for an Arlington Park Bears stadium could force the village into taking on debt.

At the annual State of the Village address Wednesday at village hall, sponsored by the Palatine Area Chamber of Commerce, Schwantz said “the rushed legislation” could undo the years Palatine has spent getting debt-free.

Schwantz presented a scenario involving the state putting forward $700 million toward the project for infrastructure, with local taxing bodies picking up the amount in excess of that.

“Let’s just say it’s a billion dollars,” he said. “So that’s $300 million that’s going to fall to the local taxing bodies. “It took us 14 years to erase $120 million in debt. If this number is as big as it could be, and it falls on us, we’re going to be taking on more debt. And we don’t want to do that.”

Village officials have said they would support a plan that would keep costs neutral for Palatine taxpayers.

During the presentation, Village Manager Reid Ottesen focused on the village’s strong financial position, including the seventh consecutive year with no increase in the property tax levy. He said the village’s property tax has gone up 2.4% over the past 15 years. He compared that with communities getting the same sources of revenue, but have gone up as much as 62%.

Ottesen said the village has aggressively pursued grants, securing $3.67 million in the previous year alone. Without those grants, he said, a 16% property tax increase would have been needed.

Ottesen praised Tax Increment Financing districts as a valuable tool that has created more than $43 million in new assessed value. By the end of this year, the village is expected to have shared $55 million in TIF surplus with other taxing bodies.

Officials also touted new businesses in development, including Northwest Trucks’ demolition of the former Holiday Inn Express to make way for a sales and service center as well as a 7-Brew Coffee, Hawaiian Bros and Shop & Save at other various sites around town.

Ottesen discussed a streetscape project transforming Slade Street, featuring fenced outdoor dining and lighting improvements that he believes would attract restaurant-style businesses.

“Now we've created a better environment where maybe it's more of a restaurant that wants to come into the downtown, instead of something that is more of a bar,” he said.