Time to end Five Corners TIF? Des Plaines alderman wants to revisit 2007 plan
Des Plaines 4th Ward Alderman Dick Sayad wants the city council to reconsider the controversial Five Corners taxing district which has failed to spur development since its establishment four years ago.
Sayad this week asked aldermen whether they would object to revisiting the issue. With no dissent, the matter will be placed on a future city council agenda, Acting City Manager Jason Slowinski said.
The Five Corners tax increment financing district (TIF) is a 70-acre, largely industrial area near Des Plaines’ downtown. The TIF freezes property tax payments from land within its boundaries for up to 23 years. Extra revenue generated as properties are developed and increase in value can be used to pay for improvements such as stormwater detention, infrastructure upgrades, environmental cleanup and flood control projects.
TIF revenues also can be used to offer existing businesses incentives to make improvements.
The Five Corners redevelopment plan unveiled last year calls for building 385,000 square feet of new retail, restaurant and commercial space, 22,000 square feet of office space, 38 townhouses, and adding streets improvements, green space and new parking.
The city council approved the TIF district one day before voters overwhelmingly rejected it in a nonbinding referendum.
Sayad, who was 4th Ward alderman at the time, voted to establish the district. But on Wednesday he said he and several other aldermen now question whether the Five Corners project is viable.
“Four years ago, we voted for the TIF because at that time we had a possibility of a couple of big developers that were going to come in and do something there,” Sayad said.
Those developers vanished, and none have stepped up to take their place, he said.
“It’s time to see what we’re going to do with it. I don’t think the economic climate is going to push that (project).”
Sayad’s predecessor, former Alderwoman Jean Higgason, didn’t support the way the taxing district was established, and several current aldermen have spoken up against it.
Business owners within the TIF district don’t like it either, because it makes their futures less certain. Property owners in the district could decide to sell at any time and push them out.
A few of the 89 property owners within Five Corners have sued the city in Cook County circuit court, claiming the district was improperly established. The case likely will be heard later this year, Des Plaines City Attorney Dave Wiltse said.
Officials have said the city lacks funds to purchase property within the district for redevelopment or to offer incentives to developers by helping pay for some infrastructure and cleanup costs.
With its current financial constraints, the city must rely on private developers, federal grants and possibly wait until future casino revenues kick in before it can undertake any improvement projects.
Though the Five Corners TIF is not losing money, it is taking money away from taxing bodies such as schools. Meanwhile, businesses and residents within the district whose property values have dropped are left in limbo, Sayad said.
“Everyone that’s in the TIF is affected,” he said. “Maybe we should just kill the TIF and just go on with our lives.”
The Five Corners redevelopment plan is available for review online at desplaines.org/EconomicDevelopment/TaxIncrementFinancing/TIF4.asp.