The village of Franklin Park is having some success pulling in businesses and tax revenue in 2014, at least in a few areas it’s designated for development.
That’s according to an annual village meeting reviewing the area’s TIF districts. TIF stands for Tax Increment Financing. In a TIF district, a portion of property taxes in a designated area are skimmed off and put into a pool of money for economic development.
Money in the TIF fund can be used to subsidize a developer, clean up polluted property, infrastructure improvements, job training and other things that help attract or retain businesses.
Franklin Park has seven conventional TIF districts, plus three Industrial Jobs Recovery TIFs that were created in 2011.
One of the more successful TIF districts in 2014 was around the intersection of Mannheim Road and Grand Avenue.
Three businesses opened the Mannheim-Grand TIF district: a bank, fast food restaurant and drug store. The village can’t bring in more of the same businesses, however, due to restrictions on competition.
“It’s one of the more successful TIF districts,” said Nick Greifer of Kane McKenna & Associates, the village’s TIF advisers.
The village hopes to bring more businesses in, said John Schneider, Franklin Park’s director of community development. He adding that the market for commercial properties has been poor the last few years.
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The Mannheim-Grand TIF is adjacent to the West Mannheim Residential Area TIF and Resurrection TIF. All three were financed with a single 2007 bond issue.
Also doing well is the Life Fitness TIF, which was created in 1996. It pulled in $595,732 in 2014, though that money will go to pay off developer bonds. The money was used to develop Reebie Storage.
The O’Hare East TIF saw an uptick in revenue to $253,930 in 2014, although it was overshadowed by $496,048 of expenses for development.
On the quieter side, the Downtown TIF district was created in 2000 for the Crossings condominium building on Franklin Avenue and a planned second building next door.
“There wasn’t a whole lot of financial activity,” Schneider said.
The Belmont-River Road TIF district created in 2000 saw $5,740 in “increment” or property taxes gained. The property includes a gas station and adjacent property which “has been out there (undeveloped) a long time,” Schneider said. “It’s important to the village. It’s a gateway into town.”
The three remaining districts are Industrial Jobs Recovery TIFs that were created in 2011. All three were quiet, though Schneider described himself as “hopeful” that development will eventually take place.