Lemont Approves I&M TIF District

LEMONT, IL — At its May 11 meeting, the Lemont village board approved a new Tax Incrementing Finance district. The Illinois & Michigan TIF will assist the village in redeveloping the downtown area, board documents state.

Board documents state the TIF is consistent with the 2030 comprehensive plan for Lemont. The 2030 plan calls to develop downtown Lemont as a destination for residents and visitors.

The I&M TIF is focused on properties next to the I&M Canal, from east of Stephen Street to west of Ed Bossert Drive. It runs from the Metra Station west to just past Stephen Street and along Stephen and Talcott.

TIF districts are an economic development tool governed by state law that municipalities can employ. The districts divert property tax revenues generated by increases to property values within their boundaries away from the public bodies that would otherwise receive them. Instead, the "incremental" revenue is deposited into a village-managed TIF fund. In Lemont's case, the TIF is being used to redevelop areas of downtown Lemont.

"This is good news for the downtown, we continue to see interest and growth there," Economic & Community Development Director Jason Berry said at the meeting. "Even in the midst of this pandemic, there's still a lot of enthusiasm."

Berry said the TIF will bring needed infrastructure for the historic downtown.

The village had to amend the Canal TIF district and the transit-oriented development TIF district to move some properties into the newly created I&M TIF district.

"A TIF district is created because there are, what they call officially 'blighted areas,'" Mayor John Egofske said. "Blighted areas are areas that have sat pretty much stagnant without development, and these areas continue to sit stagnant unless we can somehow give some incentive to build on these areas."