Property tax break would help Bears, but economic benefits ‘murky’ for taxpayers, treasurer’s report says

An analysis of the “megaprojects” legislation pending in Springfield by the Cook County Treasurer’s office is skeptical of the purported economic benefits of a Bears stadium in Arlington Heights.

The 13-page report by researchers in Treasurer Maria Pappas’ office pokes holes in the 376-page bill that passed the state House in April and is now stalled in the Senate ahead of legislators’ May 31 spring adjournment deadline.

The report questions whether the Bears’ negotiated payments to local governments, in lieu of a regular tax bill, would be enough to provide the services made necessary by the team’s envisioned $5 billion redevelopment of Arlington Park.

The authors also question if the Bears stadium — as well as other big projects above $100 million that could benefit from the legislation statewide — would increase overall economic activity, or simply move it from one area to another.

They believe the benefits for the Bears and other megaproject developers are clear, but that the benefits for taxpayers are “murky.”

“Huge real estate projects can create jobs, boost sales tax revenue and provide other benefits to their surrounding communities,” wrote researchers Andy Grimm and Hal Dardick. “But property tax breaks for megaprojects would for decades severely limit one key goal of economic development: Expansion of the property tax base that provides relief to other taxpayers who get no tax certainty.”

The study, “Illinois Megaproject Bill: A Bears Incentive with Wide Property Tax Ramifications,” was released just as legislators head back to Springfield this week for deliberations that are now in the proverbial fourth quarter.

Though the measure passed the House 78-32 on April 22, it is said to be going through significant revisions behind closed doors, and faces uncertainty of whether it could pass on the Senate floor.

Bears brass reiterated late last week they exhausted every opportunity to stay in Chicago, but “there is not a viable site in the city,” according to a team statement. “As a result, the only sites under consideration are in Arlington Heights and Hammond, (Indiana).”

Legislation paving the way to a new publicly financed stadium that would be leased to the Bears sailed through Indiana’s legislative chambers in February.

The Cook County treasurer’s report notes the Bears pay no property tax at publicly owned Soldier Field, but do pay $7 million a year in rent to the Chicago Park District and get revenues from tickets, concessions and parking.

The White Sox pay $2 million a year to rent publicly owned Rate Field. The Bulls and Blackhawks, which jointly own and operate the United Center, paid $10.8 million in taxes in 2024. The Cubs paid $3.9 million at Wrigley Field — which got a property tax break afforded to historic renovations — but overall paid $14.1 million for buildings the team now owns in Wrigleyville.

The property tax bill at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California was $14.3 million in 2025; at Chase Center in San Francisco it was $18.1 million, and it was $2.7 million at TD Garden in Boston, according to the report.

Estimating a $675 million market value for a new, 70,000-seat domed stadium, the Bears’ tax bill — without the special legislation — would be $53.2 million, according to stadium tax expert Geoffrey Propheter, an associate professor at the University of Colorado Denver, who is quoted in the report.

Assuming the Bears negotiate with local governments to make a $10 million payment on top of a $4 million frozen tax bill, the team would get an annual tax break of $39 million. That’s more than $1.5 billion over the 40-year life of the so-called Payments in Lieu of Taxes financing program, the study’s authors suggest.

“If the frozen payment and special payment are not high enough to fund those added services, other taxpayers, particularly homeowners, would have to make up the difference,” the report says. “That, in effect, would be an additional subsidy paid by people who live in Arlington Heights and potentially any other community that is home to a megaproject.”

Arlington Heights officials have declined to say exactly how much the team’s yearly payment should be, suggesting it depends on what is in the stadium’s mixed-use entertainment district and how much revenue it generates.

Village Manager Randy Recklaus envisions a process where all of the parties sit down to “come up with a number that’s fair for everybody.”

“We want it to be a privately owned stadium that pays taxes, pays their fair share, pays for all the services that they demand,” he told the Daily Herald in January. “And we want to make sure that the right people are in the room — the school districts, the village, all the local governments — to negotiate that. What that number’s going to be is going to depend on what we calculate our needs to be based on the exact components of that project.”