Mayor: Will U of I med school plan hurt tax base?

URBANA, Ill. - A proposal to open a new medical school at the University of Illinois' flagship campus has the mayor of Urbana worried it could cost the town property taxes.

Consultants hired by the university and Carle Foundation hospital in Urbana are suggesting a new college of medicine replace the existing medical school branch campus. Under the proposal the university might partner with Carle in a not-for-profit organization.

Urbana Mayor Laurel Prussing told The News-Gazette in Champaign that she worries this could lead to tax-exempt status for the hospital.

Stephanie Beever is a vice president at Carle. She said it's too soon to know those kinds of details.

A 2012 state law that grants tax exemptions for charity care has lowered Carle's property tax payments by millions of dollars.