On second thought, Hoffman Estates extends Stonegate taxing district
Two weeks ago, Hoffman Estates officials said they likely wouldn't extend the life of the TIF district that includes the Stonegate Conference Center along Higgins Road, with a motion failing to even get a second.
But on Monday, the village board voted to do just that in a unanimous vote.
The tax increment financing district for the 10.4-acre parcel has been extended to 2017 after the property's developer met with board members separately in groups over the last two weeks to present an amended proposal. Mayor William McLeod and the village board two weeks ago painted a doubtful picture that the TIF district would be extended, citing a lack of a concrete plan. Village officials earlier in the year did say a TIF district could be used to help build a $100 million, full-service hotel on the land. That would benefit the Stonegate Conference Center, which opened in 2000. The new hotel would also bring jobs to the village. Stonegate officials have negotiated the rights to build a Wyndham Grand hotel, but that wasn't clear two weeks ago, McLeod said.
"Whether they do or not in this economy, we have to be optimistic that things will turn around. They always do," McLeod said.
The developer also agreed to alter terms for payment on a note for $3.58 million in development expenses eligible for compensation from the TIF district. Since the Stonegate Conference Center opened in 2000, only about a third of eligible expenses have been covered by annual payments from the TIF fund. The revised proposal reduced the interest rate on the note from 7.5 percent to 5 percent. If the TIF district had expired as scheduled in December, payments on the note would have ended.
"What this will do is help possibly pay off the principle at some point," Trustee Gary Pilafas said.
Hoffman Estates officials established the TIF district in 1986. A TIF district withholds the extra property tax money from rising property values from taxing bodies, including school and library districts, to use those funds to aid development.
Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 and Schaumburg Township Elementary District 54 both endorsed extending the Stonegate TIF district. The extension excludes revenues generated from the restaurants within the district.
State law allows a TIF to be extended longer than the usual 23-year life to a maximum 35 years. Springfield lawmakers also needed to approve the 12-year extension, and the state legislature did exactly that with the Stonegate TIF district in January. Former Gov. Blagojevich had vetoed the extension in December, but the legislature overrode his veto.
Attempts to reach the developer, Poplar Creek LLC, were unsuccessful.