Local governments support tax break for trucking firm's HQ in Schaumburg
Local governments that would feel the impact of a tax incentive to help pay for wetland mitigation on the proposed site of a trucking firm's new headquarters in Schaumburg unanimously recommended the property's eligibility for one Friday.
With only a representative of the Schaumburg Township District Library absent, other members of the joint review board for a proposed tax increment financing district on 55 acres at the southwest corner of Irving Park and Rodenburg roads voted in support.
The land is awaiting completion of a sale from the village of Schaumburg to Alsip-based Experior Transport.
In 2018, Experior entered a contract to buy the site for $5 million. But last year it increased the offer to $7 million if the village could also help make the development more cost-effective.
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Army Corps of Engineers and Metropolitan Water Reclamation District had found that $15 million to $20 million of wetland mitigation beyond what Experior had planned would be needed for the facility.
A TIF district was identified as a likely way to generate the funding. TIF districts work by freezing the amount of property taxes that go to local governments at the level of the first year. As the land is developed and its value increases, the additional taxes go to a municipally held fund to pay for public improvements.
After 23 years, or sooner if all improvements have been paid off, a TIF district expires and taxes are distributed normally again.
Though the possibility of this TIF district reaching that goal in only 10 or 12 years has been previously discussed, there was no mention or promise of that at Friday's joint review board meeting.
A public hearing on the TIF district has been tentatively scheduled at the Schaumburg village board meeting of March 23, which would enable trustees to vote on its approval on April 27.
Though there are no Schaumburg homes adjacent to the proposed Experior Transport site, some nearby neighbors in Roselle and unincorporated Schaumburg Township recently began to voice their opposition to the project.