Chicago’s Mount Prospect eyes new tax financing district

Chicago’s northwestern suburban village Mount Prospect wants to create a tax increment financing district to spur development and investment on the south end of town.

The village board passed an ordinance that set two meetings for the tax increment financing district: one on March 22 when the Joint Review Board will meet with different taxing districts impacted by the TIF and another on April 19 to hold a public hearing on the proposal.

“Over many years, we talked about south Mount Prospect being such a land of opportunity,” Mount Prospect Mayor Paul Hoefert said. “Using this tool [tax increment financing], as we’ve used it in the downtown…is an important thing to do,” he added.

Tax increment financing allows local governments to invest in public infrastructure up front while freezing taxes within the district’s boundaries at current levels. Any additional property tax revenue generated through new development is directed to a special village-controlled fund and used to pay for improvements within the boundaries.

Over the past several years, Mount Prospect has been incorporating a number of parcels expanding the south side of the village. The need for infrastructure development, such as roads with bikes and pedestrian access, prompted the need for a tax increment district.

The proposed TIF area is bounded on the north by Dempster Street, on the west by Busse Road, on the east by an area just west of Elmhurst Road, and on the south by Oakton Street. Properties within the TIF district include a $2.5 billion data center complex on the former United Airlines headquarters. Village board members are set to vote on final approval in May.

[Daily Herald] – Connie Kim