Village and school district officials in Oak Park entered into an agreement this week signifying their intention to use tax increment financing money to construct a new administration center for the district.
A memorandum of understanding, which was approved unanimously by both the Village Board of Trustees and the Oak Park Elementary School District 97 Board of Education, outlines the terms of an intergovernmental agreement to allow an exchange of properties within the Madison Street TIF district and the construction of a new administration center for the school district using TIF funds.
“This is kind of an overdue thing that needs to be done between the village and D97, and I’m thrilled that we came to an agreement,” said Village President Anan Abu-Taleb after trustees voted in favor of the memorandum at a board meeting Monday. “This way we can focus on the Madison Street development.”
School board members approved the document at their meeting Tuesday.
As part of the agreement, the village would transfer ownership of a property at 260 W. Madison St. to District 97, which would, in turn, transfer ownership of its current administration center at 970 W. Madison St. to the village.
A new administration center would then be constructed at 260 W. Madison St. using up to $6.3 million in owed and projected TIF revenues collected by the village, according to the document. A 1995 agreement between the two bodies calls for the village to reimburse District 97 for revenue losses from the Madison district’s formation.
Additionally, the school district would sell its warehouse and maintenance facility at 541 W. Madison St. and relocate those operations to the village’s public works center at 201 South Blvd. for 40 years, according to the document.
“We think that is also very positive because those adjacency of services we hope will later lead to other economies of scales and efficiencies for both units of local government,” said Village Manager Cara Pavlicek at the meeting.
In order to meet the terms laid out in the document, the village needs to amend the 1995 Madison TIF plan to include the construction of the school facility as an eligible redevelopment project cost. Under state statute, such an amendment needs to be considered by a Joint Review Board, which is made up of representatives from each taxing body within the business district.
That board will consider the proposed amendment at a public meeting on Nov. 12 and make a recommendation to the village board, which will hold a public hearing on the matter on Dec. 8, Pavlicek said.
The board will then decide whether to approve the amendment. If there is a negative recommendation from the review board, a supermajority vote is required to approve the amendment, Pavlicek said.