Tickets to video games and different occasions on the Chicago Bears’ proposed Arlington Heights growth would include a $3-per-person tax underneath laws filed within the Illinois House on Thursday that seeks to jump-start stalled talks over state help for the workforce’s anticipated decampment to the northwest suburbs.
Proceeds from the $3 admission tax would go to assist repay debt incurred to fund renovations of Soldier Field 20 years in the past.
Initial response to the proposal was tepid from the suburbs, metropolis legislators and the Bears. But the invoice’s chief sponsor mentioned the transfer was an effort to maintain alive conversations about the way forward for a Bears stadium with the scheduled finish of the spring legislative session lower than a month away.
State Rep. Marty Moylan, a Des Plaines Democrat who beforehand was the northwest suburb’s mayor, mentioned one of many objectives of the invoice was to achieve help from Chicago lawmakers who’re reluctant to again a Bears transfer, significantly with the town nonetheless on the hook for renovations on the workforce’s longtime dwelling on the lakefront.
“This is a living document. If there’s issues that we think pertain to the bill, we will file an amendment to change it. But right now we have a bill. It’s viable. I got a lot of support, and people are excited about it,” Moylan mentioned Thursday. “I’ve got to get 60 votes and that’s how we do it. You’ve got to build a consensus. And I’m working it. I’m working this bill hard to make it a good bill.”
The measure incorporates components the Bears have sought to help their transfer to the suburbs, together with a freeze on the property tax evaluation for the 326-acre former Arlington International Racecourse web site, which the workforce purchased earlier this yr for $197 million. In addition to an enclosed stadium, the workforce’s plans name for an enormous leisure and residential growth.
A measure that will implement the evaluation freeze, with the workforce making negotiated funds to the village of Arlington Heights and different native taxing our bodies, was launched within the Illinois Senate earlier this yr however failed to achieve any momentum, with even the invoice’s sponsor expressing reservations.
Moylan’s proposal features a comparable setup however would create an area oversight board made up of representatives of native taxing our bodies and state legislators from the world that must approve any incentive agreements or zoning choices inside the undertaking web site.
The plan additionally would pool income generated on the positioning from state gross sales tax, resort tax and liquor taxes and a brand new 3% surcharge on sports activities betting income right into a fund to assist Arlington Heights and surrounding communities pay for infrastructure enhancements.
Arlington Heights would get 35% of the income, with Cook County, Palatine and Rolling Meadows every getting 10%, and seven% every going to Buffalo Grove, Elk Grove Village, Mount Prospect, Prospect Heights and Wheeling.
Despite Moylan’s optimism that his plan would supply a path ahead for negotiations, native officers had been caught off guard by its introduction.
Arlington Heights officers came upon about it Thursday morning, Village Manager Randy Recklaus mentioned.
“I can tell you that no one from the village was consulted on the development of this bill, nor to our knowledge were any of the project stakeholders,” Recklaus wrote in a e-mail. “The village is continuing to work with the Chicago Bears Football Club, our neighboring communities, area school districts, and all other stakeholders on the exploration of the development of the site to ensure that whatever is built there is in the best interest of the community and surrounding region.”
The Bears have mentioned they’ll pay to construct a brand new stadium, however would solely proceed with their deliberate $5 billion mixed-use growth in the event that they get tax “certainty” and public funding for infrastructure equivalent to roads, utilities and stormwater administration. Apartments, condominiums and different growth deliberate for the positioning can be constructed by non-public builders — and will imply the added expense of extra college students for native colleges.
Officials with Arlington Heights-based Township High School District 214, one among three districts that will see adjustments to their tax income underneath the Senate’s evaluation freeze laws, had been “not consulted” on the newest proposal, mentioned Kenneth Arndt, co-interim superintendent. The district “is currently reviewing the proposed legislation,” Arndt mentioned.
Democratic state Rep. Mark Walker of Arlington Heights, who launched a separate proposal within the House that mirrors the stagnant Senate measure, mentioned he was conversant in Moylan’s invoice however hadn’t completely reviewed it.
“I read one paragraph about it,” he informed the Tribune Thursday afternoon. “I know of no one that Marty’s talked to. I just guess it’s a bunch of new ideas that people should talk about.”
Rep. Kam Buckner, a Chicago Democrat whose district consists of Soldier Field, mentioned he had not but reviewed the invoice however reiterated his previous place on a Bears’ transfer to Arlington Heights, saying that he doesn’t help state funding that will help the workforce in taking that choice.
“The General Assembly shouldn’t be taking the stance of giving a huge subsidy to the Chicago Bears to leave the city of Chicago,” he mentioned. “I want to find smart … ways to keep the Bears home and to make this work for all of us.”
The Bears declined to touch upon the newest proposal in Springfield however up to now have bristled at the concept the workforce has any obligation to assist retire debt associated to the prior renovations of Soldier Field.
Due to refinancing and years of primarily paying curiosity as a substitute of principal, the debt ballooned from the unique $399 million to $631 million.
Chicago’s resort tax was purported to repay the debt, however with the lack of enterprise as a result of COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions, the town was compelled to pay $27 million towards the debt final yr.
With annual funds rising to $90 million by 2032, there are doubts about whether or not the resort tax might be sufficient to repay the debt.
If the Bears left their lease at Soldier Field early, say in 2026, they might owe a penalty of $84 million. Team officers beforehand informed the Tribune that they paid greater than $200 million towards the stadium building, plus hire totaling greater than $118 million since 2003.
“Paying off the bond debt is not the Bears responsibility and has never been contingent upon the team’s home games at Soldier Field,” the workforce mentioned in a press release issued earlier this yr. “Any suggestion that leads people to believe the Bears are responsible for any portion of the repayment of bonds, or the bond debt payment is dependent on the team’s home games at Soldier Field, is completely misleading.”
The legislative session will finish simply days after Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson is inaugurated as Chicago’s new mayor. Johnson has mentioned he helps the Bears staying in Chicago and has requested the workforce to not make any choices earlier than he takes workplace, however he’s additionally been noncommittal about how he would maintain the workforce and mentioned Mayor Lori Lightfoot has “soured” the connection between the workforce and the town.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker has beforehand expressed skepticism about offering state help to help the workforce’s transfer, aside from serving to pay for infrastructure because the state would for different massive tasks.
“The governor looks forward to reviewing the proposal as it makes its way through the legislative process,” Pritzker spokesman Alex Gough mentioned Thursday of Moylan’s laws.
Kubzansky, McCoppin and Petrella reported from Chicago. Tribune reporter Rick Pearson contributed.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com