Elk Grove Village Gives Rebates on TIF District Property Taxes
October 25th, 2009 | by Brian Costin Published in Features, Taxes, TIF Property Taxes | 1 Comment
Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson
Kudos to Mayor Craig Johnson and the Village Board of Elk Grove Village for deciding to rebate $300,000 yearly in excess revenue from the Grove Mall TIF district to local School Districts and shut it down 3 years ahead of schedule. (Elk Grove Village rebates excess tax money to school districts, township 10/20/2009)
Contrast this to the Olde Schaumburg Centre TIF district in downtown Schaumburg. The original plan in 1989 called for $7,270,000 in improvements. This has been revised 5 times and inflated to a gigantic $49.5 million total cost to the taxpayers.
Schaumburg is now in the final stages of approving a $6.56 million in property taxpayer subsidies including a $3 million land donation, $3 million infrastructure subsidy, and a $560,000 “donation” to private developer Warren McElwain for the Pleasant Square housing development.
Why should the Village of Schaumburg redistribute the wealth of its lower & middle-class property taxpayers to subsidize any private entity, let alone the upper-class that can afford the glitzy new rowhomes starting at $359,000, townhomes at $459,000, and single-family homes starting at $679,000 and topping out at $799,000? Schaumburg taxpayers will also be shelling out for a private, members-only Fitness Center, Swimming Pool, and Clubhouse.
The cruelest joke of all is that the money is being diverted from School Districts 54 & 211, the library, park district and other taxing bodies without any disclosure on our property tax bills.
Schaumburg should take a hint from Mayor Johnson of Elk Grove Village and shut down the wasteful spending in the Olde Schaumburg Centre TIF district. At the very least Schaumburg, and all taxing bodies, should give its citizens referendum power to approve or reject TIF districts and full transparency on our tax bills.
Note: This letter to the editor was published on October 26, 2009 in the Daily Herald.
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November 3rd, 2009 at 3:40 PM (#)
I recently read your letter to the editor regarding the TIF subsidy for ‘downtown’ Schaumburg. I am just outraged by this information. I want to know why the Village of Schaumburg is not responding at all. They need to explain what is happening & why. I just received my 2nd installment tax bill for 2008 & cannot believe the increase. I will be heading over the to the Tax Assessor’s office this week to find out if there was some mistake.
Aside from that, the Village of Schaumburg needs to explain themselves. This country is getting ridiculous by allowing the rich to receive ongoing entitlements, while the underlings continue to struggle to pay for everybody. We are currently living in a plutocracy & have been for years. Let’s stop fooling ourselves.
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