Long Grove closing in on special tax district

Long Grove is one step closer to establishing a tax increment financing district in town, but the issue hasn't been without its opponents.

Residents have been circulating an e-mail asking community members to sign a petition that requests the issue be put to a referendum.

Haig Bedrosian, one of those residents, said the TIF will last 23 years, likely longer than trustees will remain on the board, and it should be a community decision.

"The community has not had much of an opportunity to voice its concerns," he said. "What little opportunity we've been given doesn't seem to have much of an effect at all."

However, Long Grove Village President Maria Rodriguez said the board has spent two years researching a TIF in the downtown and its surrounding areas. The board discussed the various public hearings that have been held and issues regarding the TIF Tuesday and will vote on the ordinance at a later date.

With creation of the district, the assessments in that area would be frozen, and then the extra property tax from any incremental increase in assessments would be put into a fund to help development instead of going to taxing bodies, such as the schools.

Besides the beleaguered downtown -- which members of the board have said needs to upgrade its infrastructure -- the district also includes land on Route 83, where Sunset Foods has proposed a development.

"We have been listening to the residents and the different connecting bodies, the fire district and the school district," Rodriguez said. "We make sure we're hearing their concerns."

Rodriguez said that after listening to what the school and fire districts had to say at joint review board meetings, the village may decide on some steps to lessen the impact of a TIF.

She said the village will issue bonds for development expenses that must be paid off with revenue from the TIF instead of general obligation bonds, for which village residents would be liable. That takes the risk away from Long Grove residents, she said.

However, Bedrosian said he still has concerns about taking money from schools, even if the impact is lessened. If the TIF doesn't work out the way it's supposed to, it'll affect future generations, he said.

His house borders the district, and he's concerned that the village could use its eminent domain power to acquire land, even though board members have said that won't be an issue.

"It's too long-term of a plan with too many factors involved that if they don't have community support, it's almost sure to fail," he said.

Now that it seems like a TIF will go through, he said he hopes his concerns and those of other residents are heard.

Rodriguez said she feels that most residents are behind the idea.

"Renovating the downtown has come up a couple of different times, but this is the first time we've come up with a way to fund it," she said. "At the end of the day, we have to fund it."