Property Tax Revenue-Sharing Deal With School Districts Approved For Trulee Development

EVANSTON, IL — Councilmembers unanimously approved an intergovernmental agreement to share property tax revenue generated by a recently completed residential development with local public school districts.

Money generated by the addition of Trulee Evanston, a senior living community that opened at 1815 Norwood Court in December, to the property tax rolls has been redirected into a tax increment financing district, or TIF, fund established earlier in the year.

Under the agreement authorized by the City Council on Monday, Evanston/Skokie School District 65 and Evanston Township High School District 202 are set to receive 80 percent of the revenue they would have gotten if the Trulee property, which also uses the address 1815 Ridge Ave., had not been included in the Five Fifths TIF District.

Under the current school district tax rates, for every $1 million in assessed value above what the property was worth when it was vacant, District 65 would receive about $26,000 and District 202 would receive about $16,600. About two-thirds of property taxes in Evanston are allocated to the two districts. The agreement calls for the payments to be made for the life of the district.

According to the agreement, the city will make two separate annual payments to each school district, each due 60 days after the property taxes are dues on the Trulee property.

The districts are permitted to use the money for all capital costs, as defined as any real estate or property with a useful life of at least six months.

That could include buying land, upgrading existing school buildings and infrastructure or buying equipment, among other things. The District 65 school board has adopted a plan to close Dr. Bessie Rhodes School of Global Students, sell the building at 3701 Davis St. in Skokie and build a new school at Foster Park in Evanston's 5th Ward.

The intergovernmental agreement also includes a clause that anticipates a future decision by the City Council to relocate from the Lorraine H. Morton Civic Center at 2100 Ridge Ave., which is also located within the boundaries of the TIF District.

"Should the City redevelop the Civic Center," it said, "the parties agree to engage in good faith discussions regarding possible revenue sharing for said redevelopment."

As a publicly owned building, the site currently does not generate any property tax. But if it were redeveloped, the revenue it generated would flow into the TIF fund.

After alderpeople voted to establish the Five Fifths TIF District in October 2021 without approving an intergovernmental agreement with District 65 at the time, school board members signed on to a scathing statement calling on residents to contact their councilmember to lobby for a deal with the district.

"This is extremely disappointing and, unfortunately, not the first time that City actions have been misleading," board members said in November.

"Based on our estimates and financial assumptions of the market value of the Trulee property (which has yet to be assessed), this could be a loss of approximately $900,000 annually for District 65 alone," they said at the time.

Under the approved intergovernmental agreement, District 65 commits to spend the TIF money to pay for the 5th Ward school, as well as for the "[c]osts of educational programing to enhance student understanding and readiness for more advanced job training, advanced career, and technical education at the secondary level," according to an exhibit to the agreement.

District 202 commits to use the money to hire a "Career Partnership Manager to identify and connect employers with students," as well as the, "costs of job training, advanced career and technical education," according to an exhibit, "including but not limited to courses in occupational, semi-technical or technical field leading directly to employment, as incurred by the District, provided that such costs are (i) related to the establishment and maintenance of additional job training, advanced career and technical education."

"Vocational, job training, advanced career and technical education programs require a significant amount of capital equipment," according to exhibits addressing both districts' spending, "and newly trained or retrained instructors in order to make them successful."

The City Council approved the agreement with the school districts without discussion.

Related:

• New Boundaries, 5th Ward School Included In D-65 Assignment Plan
• City Answers Criticism From District 65 Over New TIF District
• City's Approval Of 5th Ward TIF District Irks District 65 Board
• Proposed Five Fifths TIF District In 5th Ward Gets Public Hearing