Forest Park could have a new TIF, or Tax Increment Financing District, this year, aiming to bring more development to the area of Brown Avenue and Franklin Street.
When TIFs are created in an area, a base property value is established and, as it increases, revenue goes into that TIF fund to be used to finance future development.
At its Feb. 23 meeting, the village approved having the area of Brown and Franklin be evaluated for its eligibility in becoming a new TIF district. If all goes well, the new TIF could be active in five-to-seven months.
Forest Park currently has two TIFs — one on Roosevelt Road and one at Circle and Harlem Avenues. That TIF was created in 2023. Though the village established the Roosevelt/Hannah TIF district in 2002, it expired at the end of last year and the village didn’t renew it.
Village Administrator Rachell Entler said, when the Circle-Harlem TIF was created, the village put a portion of the PINs on Brown Street, which identify land parcels for taxation purposes, into a new TIF fund. These PINs included the lumber yard at Brown and Franklin, which is in the process of being sold.
“It wasn’t until recently that staff realized the disadvantage this put the village in with development,” Entler told the Review. “It was only in the last few months that we discussed bringing the remaining PINs into a TIF. By doing so, the entire property will be eligible for assistance from the village under the TIF Act allowable uses.”
The village doesn’t yet have an estimate on how much a TIF district at Brown and Franklin could bring into Forest Park. Entler said determining this amount will be part of the due diligence in creating a new TIF.