Wheeling works to reset two TIFs to spur redevelopment
The Wheeling village board has started the process to reset two of its five tax increment financing districts, which means they will start over with the current lower real estate valuation and will continue for 23 more years.
The Town Center TIF district stretches along both sides of Dundee Road. While it is designed to redevelop the old Wickes property that the village owns west of village hall, it encompasses a large area basically from Wolf Road west to Elmhurst Road and from Heritage Park to north of Dundee Road. The boundaries will not change.
The Southeast TIF district is the area around Chicago Executive Airport. The new one will be expanded and stretch from Milwaukee Avenue to in some cases west of Wolf Road. The southern boundary runs along the border where Wheeling’s portion of the airport ends, and it goes north as far as Inland Drive. The River Mills residential community — originally included to provide geographic continuity — will be excluded.
In a TIF district, property taxes earned from an increase in assessed valuation go toward development costs in that area rather than to schools and other local taxing bodies. However, in these two cases the TIF districts were established when land values were high, and now they are lower.
Resetting the TIF districts will result in more tax revenue from any redevelopment that occurs each year, and also result in more money over the lifetime of the district since it will be in effect more years into the future. But resetting the TIF districts will require meetings with representatives of the other taxing districts to get them to agree to the change.
Dissolving the old TIF districts by the end of the year and establishing the new ones by April is “aggressive scheduling,” John Melaniphy, director of economic development, told the board Tuesday.
Resetting the Town Center TIF district was one of the conditions in a preliminary agreement the board approved a week earlier with Urban R2 Co., the exclusive developer of that area.
Laube Companies of Chicago will perform the studies necessary to close the Town Center TIF district, which was established in 2003, and start a new TIF district. This will cost $25,000 to $35,000, according to a contract the board approved this week. Laube has worked on this project with the village before.
The Southeast TIF district was established in 2008. The board contracted this week with Ehlers & Associates, Inc. of Lisle for $38,000. That company did the original study for the TIF district. Little development has occurred in that area, and trustees have expressed interest in getting airport-related businesses established, especially mentioning the area along Industrial Lane.