Taxpayers at risk in lawmakers’ rush to pass Bears stadium bill

Lawmakers returning to Springfield this month have no shortage of pressing issues. Yet one item is set to rush to the front of the line: a deal to keep a new Chicago Bears stadium in Illinois.

That urgency should concern taxpayers across the suburbs.

Negotiations over a stadium project — whether in Arlington Heights or elsewhere — are being fast-tracked under the banner of economic development. But speed and pressure are rarely ingredients for sound fiscal policy. If lawmakers are going to prioritize passing a Bears stadium bill by the end of this legislative session, they must set clear boundaries: no shifting the tax burden onto homeowners and businesses and no special perks for politicians.

Recent proposals circulating in Springfield run the risk of failing both tests.

At the center of the debate is a “megaprojects” incentive package that would offer substantial property tax breaks to large developments, including a Bears stadium. On paper, the goal is to attract investment. In practice, the bill’s language risks making Illinois’ already severe property tax problem even worse.

A qualifying megaproject would have its property tax assessment effectively frozen at its pre-development value. That means a new stadium, potentially worth hundreds of millions, would be taxed as if it were still an empty parcel — a much lower value.

But local governments would not treat it that way when calculating how much revenue they can collect. They would be allowed to count the full, improved value of the property when setting their levies. The result: higher overall tax collections, with the difference made up by everyone except the project getting the break.

In other words, homeowners in Arlington Heights and surrounding communities could see higher tax bills so that a private sports franchise pays less.

That is a hard sell in a state where residents already shoulder the highest property taxes in the country. In Arlington Heights alone, the median homeowner’s property tax bill exceeds $8,000 per year. According to a new report from Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas, property tax bills across Cook County have surged from $6.8 billion in 1995 to $19.2 billion in 2024, an increase of more than 180%. Over the same period, inflation rose less than 91%. Wage growth, while significant, still lagged the pace of tax increases.

Illinois has a long track record of using complex financing arrangements and carveouts that obscure timelines and accountability. Chicago taxpayers are still on the hook for about $525 million from the 2002 Soldier Field renovations. The new bill must not make the same mistakes.

There is also the issue of incentives inside the Capitol.

Publicly funded stadium deals across the country have too often come with perks for elected officials, such as luxury suites, free tickets or other access tied to the very facilities they are helping finance.

As the final contracts are negotiated, Illinois lawmakers should be explicitly barred from receiving free or discounted access tied to the project.

Supporters of a new stadium argue that the project could bring economic gains, from creating construction jobs to hosting marquee events such as a Super Bowl or March Madness games. Those benefits are worth debating. But they do not justify a deal that obscures costs or redistributes them onto overburdened residents and businesses.

If a stadium makes economic sense, it should be able to stand on its own merits, not by shifting burdens or offering political sweeteners.

It’s understandable that many people want to keep the Bears’ stadium in Illinois. But protecting tax-burdened Illinoisans from even higher property taxes should be non-negotiable.

• Matt Paprocki is the president and CEO of the Illinois Policy Institute.