Cary Residents Voice Concerns Over TIF District

CARY, IL — Dozens of Cary residents stopped out to a public meeting Wednesday to voice their concerns over a proposed tax increment financing district planned for downtown Cary.

No formal action has been taken on the Central Cary TIF District. On Wednesday, village officials and consultants tasked with drafting plans for the TIF spoke during the packed meeting at the Cary Municipal Center.

TIF is a development tool Cary is looking to use to make public improvements and attract new development to an area. According to a housing impact study, the proposed district includes 95 single-family housing units and 178 multi-family housing units, which accounts for 273 dwelling units, according to village documents.

The village has identified 22 single-family housing units and 119 multi-family housing units that could be displaced but village officials stressed Wednesday "there are no current plans" to do so.

Currently, the area proposed for the TIF generates $2.6 million in property taxes, and any new development in that area will help finance the TIF, Brian Simmons, community development director for the village of Cary.

"The area is part of the original 1893 corporate limits of the village...it has not seen a lot of reinvestment and has lagged behind the areas of the village that has seen growth," Simmons said.

A downtown Cary strategic plan, developed in 2021, looked at ways the village could redevelop or reinvest in the downtown area, which lead to the proposed TIF.

A tax increment is the difference between the amount of property taxes generated by property before a TIF designation and the amount of property tax revenue generated after designation, according to village officials. Only the new property taxes generated by the incremental increase in the value of these properties after the TIF is established are available for investment in the TIF.

Those funds could be used to revitalize the area with the hopes of drawing new business and investments. Village officials say 43 percent of the structures in the TIF are more than 100 years old.

But many longtime Cary residents speaking at the meeting Wednesday voiced concerns over these developments taking away from Cary's "small town feel."

"Think about what the community is. We are not Des Plaines," said John Pfiefer, a lifelong resident of the Cary area, during the Wednesday meeting.

Many residents voiced concerns on the impact the TIF could have on Cary Grove Youth Baseball and Softball. Six of the fields used by the not-for-profit organization, which has been in the community for 70 years, are at the former Maplewood School property, which is within the TIF District.

Bob Johnson, president of CGYBS, said the TIF threatens to wipe out a youth baseball program that has been an integral part of the community for decades.

"We have players whose parents and grandparents played on those fields," he said during the Wednesday meeting. The youth baseball organization does not receive any funds from the village of Cary or Cary Park District and is run by volunteers.

Concessions sold at a concession stand, which also is located on the Maplewood property, help fund costs for the program.

Many voiced concerns over eminent domain being used to take over properties and force homeowners and business owners to move out.

Village officials said that while they can use eminent domain, there are no plans "to do so at this point."

As for next steps, the village of Cary is looking to consider adopting ordinances meant to create the TIF District during an August meeting. Prior to that, a public hearing on the TIF is tentatively planned for July. In June, the Joint Review Board will consider what the TIF could mean for affected taxing districts.