Tax Break Approved For Abt Electronics Warehouse Expansion

GLENVIEW, IL — Trustees approved last week a request for a property tax break from Abt Electronics to expand the retailer's facility at 12000 Milwaukee Ave. With a single 4-1 vote, the Glenview Village Board granted a Cook County 6(b) economic incentive to reduce the corporation's property tax over the next 12 years. According to village documents, the difference amounts to a property tax reduction of $500,000 for the retailer, which is one of the largest contributors to the village's property and sales tax revenue, according to staff reports.

The tax break affects a 7,400-square foot addition for an expanded loading bay and truck docks on 12,600 square feet of land acquired from the Delta Hotel. Abt said it means the site will remain viable for its current and future needs. The company said the incentive will offset the development cost and will encouraged continued growth, Glenview Planning Director Jeff Rogers told the board on June 5. The expansion would involved outdoor truck parking, employee parking and a canopy.

Rogers said if Abt's application was approved, permits would be issued within months and construction would be underway before the end of the year. He told trustees the project was likely to be complete before the end of next year, and the incentive will not take effect if the construction doesn't end up taking place. Abt agreed to minimum employment threshold and said the addition would increase revenue from property and sales tax. The application materials note that Abt is not required to pay the Cook County living wage.

No local taxing bodies opposed the request for the incentive, according to Rogers.

Trustee Scott Britton asked Rogers to confirm the amount of tax revenue that the 6(b) county incentive would provide Abt.

"So it's basically a benefit to them of over half a million dollars," Britton said. He said he never has supported a 6(b) incentive in his 12 years on the board. "This board is assuming that Abt is either (1) going to move or (2) they're not going to do this project if we don't give them a half-million dollar incentive," he said, describing its justification as fallacious.

"It's corporate welfare," Britton said. "It's a way that we pay off businesses to increase their profits at the expense of everybody who's sitting in this room. I don't like it, never have liked it, never voted for one and I'm not going to support this one as well."

After construction Abt would add about 50 additional permanent jobs, Rogers told Trustee Deborah Karton, who motioned for the tax break's approval. The planning director told her said Abt would be able to stay in town if the tax break was granted.

"The approval of the 6(b) will allow them to remain in this location for the near and long term, allowing for the growth of their operation without having to seek an alternate site," Rogers said.

In 2000, Abt received a 50 percent sales tax rebate to move from Morton Grove to its current location, the former site of Zenith Electronic Corporation's headquarters.

Related:

• Tax Break Approved For Company's Move To Northbrook From Glenview
• Abt Electronics Adds 100,000 Square Feet To Warehouse
• Glenview's Abt Electronics Ranked as Top Workplace in Chicago