It’s official — Forest Park has a new Harlem Avenue Tax Increment Financing District (TIF).
The old Brown/Harlem TIF, also known as the Brown Street Station TIF, isn’t quite gone. The council will need to vote in December to retire it, but in every other way the process is complete. The newly created Circle/Harlem TIF will replace the Brown/Harlem TIF, effective at the start of next year, and around $4 million in uncommitted funds from the Brown/Harlem TIF have been transferred in. While much of the Circle/Harlem TIF will mirror its predecessor, encompassing parts of Harlem Avenue and the area south of the CTA Green Line railyard, there are some differences — most residential buildings that are part of the old TIF would not be part of the new TIF, which would include a larger portion of the Harlem Avenue commercial corridor, reaching all the way down to Madison Street.
When a TIF is created, the amount of property tax revenue that goes to the taxing bodies is frozen. The funds from ensuing property assessment increases get deposited in a TIF fund. The idea is that the funding will be used to bring in development, which would increase property tax revenue over the long run.
The new Circle/Harlem TIF’s property taxes will be based on 2023 rates, which would create a short-term revenue boost for the taxing bodies.
Forest Park originally hoped to extend the Brown/Harlem TIF, something that would have required Illinois General Assembly approval. The village was hoping to use the money to help fund its share of the long-discussed project to rebuild the CTA/Metra viaduct over Harlem Avenue and also help pay for the state-required removal of lead pipes, among other projects.
The village changed direction as officials became concerned that the General Assembly wouldn’t approve the extension of the current TIF before it expires, hence the new, similar-looking TIF.
As part of the process of approving the new TIF, the village council approved a redevelopment plan broadly outlining its goals and how the money would be spent. It assumes the district would bring in around $16 million, $8.5 million of which would go toward public improvements, with $2 million go to land acquisition and relocation, and another $2 million for site demolition and environmental clean-up. Building rehabilitation and more cosmetic improvements such as façade improvements would use $1.5 million, and $250,000 would go to job training.
The redevelopment plan estimates that the equalized assessed value (EAV) of the properties within the new TIF is over $10.3 million. The plan projects that, after 23 years, when the TIF expires (unless it’s extended), the EAV within the TIF would go up to anywhere between $17.5 million and $22.5 million.
While the Forest Park School District 91 Board of Education was leery when then-village administrator Moses Amidei proposed the Brown/Harlem TIF extension, the Circle/Harlem TIF didn’t meet any significant opposition. There were no public comments at either the Nov. 13 public hearing or either of the regularly scheduled November village council meetings.
The council approved the ordinances unanimously and without discussion.
