Sides sign secret settlement in Cantera tax lawsuit
A decade-long legal battle between Naperville Unit District 203 and several taxing bodies in Warrenville has been settled with the city paying the school district $250,000.
How the agreement was finally reached is being kept secret, but legal fees for all parties involved likely totaled more than $1 million.
District 203 and the city of Warrenville released a joint statement this week about ending what they referred to as "the ongoing Cantera TIF litigation."
The three-sentence statement said an agreement had been reached; the agreement allows the two sides to move forward "together for the best interest of the residents they serve;" and the terms of the settlement are to remain confidential by court order.
"I feel honor-bound to follow that agreement," Warrenville Mayor David Brummel said.
District 203 filed a lawsuit in 2005 claiming Warrenville improperly distributed money generated from a special tax increment financing district that helped turn a former quarry into restaurants, a movie theater, offices and townhouses.
In a tax increment financing district, often called a TIF, the assessed value of land is frozen for the purpose of calculating how much property tax money local governments receive. As property values increase, the difference between what the governments collect and the higher taxes the land generates is put into a fund that helps pay for certain improvements within the TIF district, such as roads and other infrastructure.
All governmental bodies involved in the lawsuit - District 203, the city of Warrenville, Warrenville Fire Protection District, Warrenville Library District, Warrenville Park District and Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 - have boundaries that overlapped with the Cantera tax increment financing district, which was established in 1986 and expired in 2009.
Before it expired, Warrenville City Administrator Coakley said money it generated because of increased property values was used to help support several projects, including a library addition, a park district recreation center, a new ladder truck for the fire district and technology for District 200 schools.
District 203's lawsuit claimed the city doled out the funds improperly because the Naperville school district didn't get a fair share. Coakley said tax law supports the city's distribution of the funds.
An ordinance the Warrenville City Council approved Tuesday sheds the most light so far on the terms of settlement, which was approved after 9½ years of legal proceedings. It authorized the city to pay $250,000 to District 203, which would, in turn, drop the lawsuit.
District 203 Superintendent Dan Bridges would not say how the district plans to spend the money.
"By order of the court, the terms of the settlement are to remain confidential," Bridges said in response to several questions about the settlement.
Legal fees for all parties associated with the lawsuit totaled $803,000 by early 2013 and only have risen from there.
Warrenville officials estimated the total legal spending on the case to be at least $1 million, with District 203 paying roughly $700,000, the city spending $200,000 and the four other taxing bodies named in the lawsuit also having to retain lawyers.
The fire district spent $45,700 on legal fees, the library district spent $107,000, the park district spent $60,000 and District 200 officials did not immediately return calls seeking their total legal spending. District 203 officials declined to comment.
District 203 and Warrenville officials also would not comment on whether the legal battle was a waste of taxpayer money.
"I can't comment on that," Coakley said. "I will let the facts stand for themselves."
The Daily Herald filed Freedom of Information Act requests with both parties seeking a copy of the settlement, but responses are not due until late next week.