Politics & Government

Election 2011: Village President Candidates Answer the TIF Question

We asked Village President candidates Brian LeClercq, Philip Smith and Judy Sollinger where they stand on a TIF District as a way to attract and fund downtown redevelopment.

Do you support the use of a Tax Increment Financing District to attract new business and development to downtown? If so, what should be the village’s specific responsibility within that TIF. If not, what other means do you support to attract new business and development to the downtown?

No.  As I stated at the Toastmasters’ forum, I have a collaborative leadership style.  It is my policy to bring all items for discussion to the board whether I personally  agree with  them or not.  I have consistently encouraged open and transparent government by making sure that all subjects are open for discussion and debate.

There were two issues involved in the downtown discussion.  The first issue was the amount of money the village should support.  The majority of the board committed to upgrading the public roads, water and sewer systems in support of this area.  The second issue was the funding mechanism.  

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The downtown plan mentions a TIF as one possible alternative.  As I mentioned at the Toastmasters’ forum, it is my intent that the board openly debates the other choices.  These include securing grants, regular bonds, using existing General Fund reserves, or using our revolving economic development loan money, which is actually Illinois money granted specifically for the purpose of funding economic development.

Downtown development is not dependent upon a TIF.  There are other good alternatives.

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I do not support the use of a Tax Increment Financing District to attract new business and development to downtown. I believe that the real problem with downtown right now is that not enough potential customers view the downtown area as a destination. Look at the success of both the Wine on the Fox and Christmas Walk events.

The Village should create cost-effective events in the downtown area that will bring more people to downtown. By attracting village residents to downtown, residents will end up spending more money locally, and the village will gain by keeping sales tax revenues within the village. Businesses will gain from increased foot traffic and hopefully increased sales. Taxpayers will also gain by hopefully being able to reducetheir tax burden through increased sales tax collections.

I definitely believe that properly administered Tax Increment Financing Districts can be one of the best funding mechanisms available to municipalities, specifically for infrastructure improvements to encourage business and commercial development.

However, I cannot say that I would automatically support the use of a TIF District to attract new business and development to our downtown without having the input of the other taxing bodies, and not without having specific information regarding the type of funding options being proposed and the long range effect it would have on the Village as well as knowing that the TIF District is being properly administered.


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