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Politics & Government

Elmhurst City Council Moves Incrementally on TIFs

Aldermen: We are still in the study phase.

As Elmhurst City Council members agreed Monday to continue along the process toward studying new tax increment financing districts, they also wanted to make a few things clear.

First, 6th Ward Alderman Steve Morley stressed, neither the city's Development, Planning and Zoning Committee nor the City Council has “endorsed nor approved any new TIF districts at this time.”

Second, while the council will be setting up a way to reimburse developer expenses related to TIFs, this does not obligate the city to spend any money at this point. The only money Elmhurst will spend is $24,000 to have a consultant study the feasibility of new TIFs in the city.

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Finally, aldermen want residents to know that the city's focus on three areas of study—North York Road, York and Vallette, and Riverside Drive—does not guarantee that any of these areas will be Elmhurst's newest TIF districts.

With all of these caveats, the City Council gave a first round of approval to resolutions recommended by consultants . Along with establishing a fund for early TIF-related expenses, the city will formally notify other taxing bodies that new TIFs are under consideration. These resolutions are expected to be finally approved during the next full City Council session.

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In a TIF district, a city targets an underperforming area for redevelopment and sets a base value of the property. The growth in the value of the property over this base value is the increment, which goes into a special fund to make additional investments in the area, generating even more growth in the TIF.

Third Ward Alderman Michael Bram pointed to maps that draw boundaries around each of the three study areas and asked if these boundaries could change. Morley replied that the consultant will be going parcel by parcel through the areas and that this could result in slight shifts in the boundaries.

Kane McKenna Associates will be working with the city to study the TIF areas. The first phase of their work will include reviewing the preliminary boundary areas of all three proposed districts, identifying improvements that the city could make to each area, and devising funding strategies.

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