Bears Would Pay $3.6M In Property Taxes Under Arlington Park Agreement

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL — It appears the Chicago Bears would pay $3.6 million in property taxes annually on the former Arlington Park racetrack property under an agreement reached last month by the NFL team. The Village of Arlington Heights announced Thursday it will be holding a special Village Board meeting next week to discuss this and a Memorandum of Understanding between the team, the Village and several local school districts.

The MOU will be on the agenda for presentation and consideration at the meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday. Officials said the meeting is open to the public and will stream live on the Village's YouTube page.

Last month, though still maintaining that building a multi-billion dollar stadium along Chicago's lakefront remains the team's priority, Bears officials said they had reached an agreement over property taxes at the former Arlington International Racecourse property.

"The Chicago Bears remain focused on investing over $2 billion to build a publicly owned enclosed stadium on Chicago's lakefront, while reevaluating the feasibility of a development in Bronzeville," the team said in a statement shared with Patch. "That being said, we remain significant landowners in Arlington Heights and establishing a framework for potential future development planning, financing and property tax certainty has been a priority since the land was purchased."

RELATED: Bears Reach Arlington Park Tax Deal, Chicago Stadium Remains Focus

Village officials said Thursday the three sides have been working with one another "in good faith" for the past several months to develop the MOU. According to the Village, the MOU resolves open issues related to short-term and long-term property taxes, protection of village and school district interests, as well as the evaluation of the former site as a potential future home of an NFL Stadium and mixed-use development to be developed by the Chicago Bears.

In May, the Bears unveiled plans for a publicly-owned, domed stadium on the Museum Campus in Chicago. The entire stadium project, which would be built near the current site of Solider Field, is estimated to cost $4.6 billion, including $3.2 billion for the stadium itself.

In February 2023, the Bears closed on a $197.2 million property agreement to buy the Arlington Park property that housed the former racetrack, which has since been demolished.

At a tax hearing in front of the board in January, the football team and three Arlington Heights area school districts located nearby were $100 million apart in their assessments of the property's value. The three school districts — Community Consolidated School District 15 (based in Palatine), High School District 211 (based in Palatine), and High School District 214 (based in Arlington Heights) — valued the property at $160 million, the same appraisal they had in December 2023.

In February of this year, the Cook County Board of Review ruled that the 326-acre site is worth $125 million, which is $30 million more than the team's original assessment of the property ($95 million) and $65 million over what the Bears recently said Arlington is worth ($60 million).

Under the new agreement, the Village said the parties would all support a property tax settlement agreement for the period of time during which the property remains vacant. The property tax settlement is only guaranteed for the 2025-2027 tax years.

The assessment for the property would be set $124,691,296, at a 10 percent vacant assessment level, requiring the Bears to pay approximately $3.6 million in taxes annually. The figure was developed by the Cook County Board of Review. Officials said this level of taxation is more than Arlington Park was paying when horse racing was still occurring.

The Village said the Bears have still not submitted any formal plans for review since conceptual images for the property were released by the team in 2022.

RELATED:

• Bears Hope To Break Ground On Chicago Stadium Next Year — President
• Bears Stadium Funding In Chicago 'Near Impossible' This Year — Pritzker
• 'Pivotal' Moment — Bears Unveil $4.6B Domed Stadium Plan For Chicago
• Board Raises Bears' Tax Assessment For Arlington Property By $30M
• Bears' Tax Appeal On Arlington Park Property Rejected — Report