Winnetka trustees want more information about how they could use a tax increment finance district to pay for village projects before they move further toward creating one, they decided last week.
They also want a better idea of how instituting a TIF district to pay for work in the Elm Street business district would affect Winnetka’s park and school districts.
Village staff will try to answer both questions, Assistant Village Manager Megan Pierce said Monday, a task that could last into November.
At their Oct. 10 session, trustees told Maureen Barry, the consultant from Ehlers and Associates Inc. who has been researching the fiscal option for Winnetka, that they don’t want to set project development costs without getting at least some estimates on specific projects the money would be earmarked for.
In July, Barry said a TIF district could generate more than $131.9 million over a little more than 23 years, which would correspond to about $64.3 million in current dollars.
Although Village President Chris Rintz said the revenue could pay for both streetscape improvements and infrastructure work such as water main upgrades, trustees weren’t enthusiastic about the latter.
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Nor did they like Barry’s suggestion that village officials first decide how much money they want to receive from a TIF district, and then work out how much to spend on projects.
“Conceptually, I’m not comfortable with picking a number and justifying it after the fact,” Trustee Andy Cripe said.
Instead, village staff will work with Ehlers to narrow the list of potential projects she included in her report. The report represented the first phase of Ehlers’ work. Pierce said that once trustees get some answers, Barry may get the go-ahead to complete the research project’s second phase, which is to prepare a redevelopment project plan for the district.
Illinois municipalities can freeze the taxable value of property – known as its equalized assessed value, or EAV – within TIF district borders at a base level, according to an April staff report.
For up to 23 years, they can collect all the property taxes that are naturally generated above that base level, via new construction or increases in county-assessed value of property in the district, the report stated.
All those so-called incremental taxes go to the municipality, rather than being split between the various taxing bodies that would normally collect a portion, according to the report. Other taxing bodies continue to get the taxes generated by the base property tax level, it stated.
Trustee Kristin Ziv opposed instituting any TIF district, worrying that it would “rob Peter to pay Paul” by taking money from school and park districts. The community is affluent and can pay for necessary business district improvements without a TIF district, she said, pointing out that Winnetka will eventually get tax revenue from the One Winnetka project.
Local school district officials, including New Trier District 203 Superintendent Paul Sally and Trisha Kocanda, his counterpart at Winnetka Public Schools District 36, attended the meeting.
They spoke briefly, saying they shared Winnetka’s interest in a thriving downtown because it also benefits their districts.
“I think that’s why intergovernmental agreements are so important,” Sally said.
Rintz agreed, pointing out that many communities negotiate agreements with other taxing bodies that will route excess TIF revenue back to them, or guarantee an early end to the district if specific goals are met.
Rintz said he believed improving the downtown streetscape “is something we can’t wait on” if the village is to remain attractive to new homeowners, businesses, and developers.
But he also said Winnetka trustees were right when they said in July that they want to be cautious in creating such a district.
“We’re not like other towns. We’re Winnetka,” Rintz said. “We’re very cautious, we’re very deliberate, and we don’t take these decisions lightly.”
Twitter: @pioneer_kathy