Carpentersville approves new TIF district
Tuesday night, the Carpentersville village board turned a blighted section on the east side into a tax increment finance district, a move officials hope revitalizes that area of town and encourages business development.
The TIF includes land that's roughly bounded by Lake Marian Road to the north, Northlake Parkway to the south, Route 25 to the east and Meadowdale Drive to the west.
At 156 acres, it is the biggest TIF in the village.
In a TIF district, the property's assessed value is frozen for up to 23 years. As the value of properties increases, the extra tax revenue they generate will be used to redevelop the district.
Those 23 years started on Tuesday and the TIF is using the equalized assessed values from 2011. The board has the option of ending the TIF sooner if it's happy with the results.
Of the 156 acres, 67 have structures, 59 are vacant and 30 are comprised of roadways. The Besinger family is the largest landlord within the district. Other parts of the area have not seen much growth in equalized assessed value, and have suffered from lack of community planning and from structures that are below minimum village code standards.
The vote came months after a private study, completed by SB Friedman Development Advisors, concluded that the area qualified for the special designation, as parts of it are rundown and have clearly seen better days.
The next step is to launch a $6,000 marketing campaign to let businesses know that the TIF designation has been approved and to alert them to the other one just off Route 31, Assistant Village Manager Steven Jones said.
The hope is to also attract new businesses to town that could devise development projects around TIF money.
“We started spreading the word about the potential of a TIF,” Jones said. “Now it's time to say we've got it.”
Projects identified in the district would be done on a “pay as you go” basis as the money comes in to avoid incurring additional debt, Jones said.
Money generated from the TIF can also pay for improvements within the district, such as sidewalks, better lighting and various street initiatives.