Rolling Meadows to offer incentives for businesses

Rolling Meadows is considering an economic incentive program to encourage business and ultimately grow sales tax revenue in the city.

The program, which the city council moved forward on first reading on Tuesday, would give incentives to new or existing businesses to locate or expand in Rolling Meadows.

Under the plan, applicants can be refunded real estate transfer taxes that were paid to the city — typically $3 per $1,000 spent to purchase property. The plan was proposed by Alderman John D’Astice in April and it has been discussed at several council meetings since then. The city hopes this will encourage more businesses to chose to open in Rolling Meadows over another suburb.

“We’re hoping to get people to decrease the number of vacant pieces of property and invest in their properties,” said City Manager Barry Krumstock. “We’re trying to be more aggressive about it.”

Another incentive included in the plan would be a food and beverage tax refund for a new major sports bar or food and drinking establishment. A business would be able to get a refund for one month’s worth of food and beverage taxes paid to the city.

The council discussed other changes to help spur economic growth at the homeowner level.

Although the council approved raising several permit fees on Tuesday, it added an option for homeowners to receive a refund if they choose to demolish and rebuild their property.

Typically the city charges a $500 permit fee for demolitions, but to give residents an incentive to rebuild, the amended ordinance says that if a home is demolished, the city will refund the fee if residents have started rebuilding within a year.

Aldermen Brad Judd and Mike Cannon said the idea is to encourage people to rebuild structures if necessary, not penalize them with the demolition fee.

“I think it’s important we set a precedent that we want people to do things to their properties to make them nicer, better and more valuable,” Cannon said.

Cannon said he will also be introducing a plan of incentives to encourage residents to do work on their homes at the city’s committee-of-the-whole meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 8.