Oak Park officials approved an ordinance Monday night to allow the village to use Madison Street tax-increment financing funds to construct public school structures.
During a brief meeting, the Village Board voted 4-0 in favor of amending the 1995 TIF plan to include construction of school facilities as an eligible use of funds — a move that was supported by a board of representatives from taxing bodies within the district. Trustees Peter Barber, Colette Lueck and Adam Salzman were not present.
Village Manager Cara Pavlicek explained that amending the plan essentially enacts the agreements entered into last month by the village and the Oak Park Elementary School District 97 that permit the school district to construct a new administration center with the tax revenue.
“(We) believe it will also enhance the economic development opportunities along Madison Street and the overall use of the TIF dollars that exist today,” Pavlicek said.
Under the agreements, the two bodies approved 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.
The new administration center will 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 village documents. The district’s current administration building at 970 W. Madison St. will then be transferred to the village.
“I’m excited to hopefully soon sit down with the businesses and people around Madison Street and other citizens who are very interested in Madison Street to now see what we can do with the TIF funds that we are keeping within the TIF,” said Trustee Bob Tucker. “I think it’s ripe for action and we have some good lots to hopefully move and that’s where part of the real excitement comes from this particular action we are taking tonight.”
In other news, the board is expected to discuss next week recommendations from a task force charged with looking at ways to improve fair housing procedures in the village, according to Trustee Glenn Brewer, who chaired the citizen commission.
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The task force was convened last year after a local nonprofit found a “startling” level of discrimination by Oak Park housing agencies against African-American and disabled renters in a 2013 study.
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