Pappas Says Taxpayer Benefits From Bears Murky

The tax breaks tied to keeping the Monsters of the Midway in Chicago aren’t necessarily worth it for the Illinois homeowner, according to the Cook County Treasurer’s office.

The fans of the team benefit by keeping the local team around, but that’s about it, according to a 12-page analysis report published by Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas’s office, first reported by the Chicago Sun-Times, which called taxpayer benefits under the proposed framework “murky.”

The report steers clear of explicit recommendations, but cites elements like money for the Bears planned new stadium being diverted from schools and other local needs. The proposed property tax incentive legislation would create a payment in lieu of property taxes system, an element the Bears have repeatedly asked for.

“Property tax breaks for megaprojects would for decades limit one key goal of economic development: expansion of the property tax base that provides relief to other taxpayers who get no tax certainty,” the analysis states.

Governor JB Pritzker responded to the study, defending the PILOT structure, stating, “Gov. Pritzker will continue making sure taxpayers remain at the forefront of these discussions,” according to the Chicago Daily Herald.

The Treasurer’s office estimated that the team would soak up more tax benefits than other developments of comparable size while bringing less economic impact. The Bears have committed to covering $2 billion in development costs no matter where they settle down: either stay put in Illinois or head southeast to Indiana, where that state is offering a strong taxpayer-funded deal, according to the Sun-Times.

The Bears are dead-set on their new stadium project, and have narrowed the new site down to two locations on opposite ends of Chicagoland. They’ll either break ground in Hammond, Indiana or northwest of Chicago in Arlington Heights. The Hammond location would be somewhere near Wolf Lake, and the Arlington Heights location would be at the team-owned, 326-acre Arlington Park former race track property. Either one would see the team move on from Chicago landmark Soldier Field, the smallest stadium in the NFL by capacity.

Earlier this year, Pritzker communicated “broad agreement” on the Bears’ preferred legislation that would provide them with the financial structure to build a domed stadium along with a $5 billion mixed-use development in Arlington Heights.

— Hunter Cooke