Library Director Gives Solid Explanation of TIF District Concept

[Note across several postings, Apr 27th: I apologize for late postings of the last regular board meetings of the Plainfield Fire Protection District, the Plainfield Public Library District, and the Plainfield Township Park District. I did attend and record these meetings but other commitments took priority over getting these videos posted via The Patch. I will try to be more dependable on this in coming months. Thanks for understanding.—Vicky Polito]

Below are links to the Plainfield Public Library District’s meeting of April 15th, 2015. Total run time is just about an hour and a quarter, with no actions taken following brief closed session (note: this time I did NOT stay to record post-closed session adjournment).

PPL April 15th meeting, part 1 of 3
PPL April 15th meeting, part 2 of 3
PPL April 15th meeting, part 3 of 3

All commissioners except Samantha Hurtado attended.

While other matters were discussed, the two biggest items from this meeting were:

1. The approval of letter of engagement with Nagle Hartray Architects (for work on a library expansion referendum)
2. Library Director Julie Milavec gave a presentation on TIF districts (think of them as spontaneous little taxing bodies of their own) and what they mean for other taxing bodies like the library district.
   

My take, specifically on the TIF district presentation:

This was a little bit of a push-back on some commentary around Plainfield that taxing bodies like the library would lose funding on a high order if a TIF district is set by the Plainfield Village Board.

OK, while Ms. Milavec did a really nice job, here’s my boiled down version:

A TIF district establishment basically says:

“Hey, Library (or Schools, or Fire Dept, etc.), I think we’re all losing on some economic growth because we’re adjacent to a “blighted area” that also won’t get de-blighted “if not for” some extra cash. So, how about we agree to put that money in and your share to donate to the cause will be roughly 75% of whatever NEW money you get for about 23 years when this works and we all see property valued go up steadily in that time, and there-by see our revenue intake increase, overall. Plus in theory after that 23 year span you’ll still be benefiting from the “investment” of creating a TIF district.

An illustration? Sure: If right now you are getting tax revenue of $100 a year with our current state of play and next year, you collect $120—no matter WHY you saw that $20 uptick—you’ll give back toward the TIF district $15, which is 75% of the new, extra $20 you got. You will get your base (baked in the cake when the TIF is established) 100 bucks you were getting, too. So, on a year when you would have seen $120 come in, you’ll see $105. Now, maybe the improvements REALLY kick into gear five or ten years into the 23 and you see a year when you are collecting $200, so the TIF district will get $75 and you, dear Library, will get $125. Get it?”

Now, there are a lot of rules and twists in this, of course. One thing someone mentioned is that property values generally DO go up over time anyway and that we seem to be heading back into a growth period in housing, etc. Those things need to be considered.

While I understand Ms. Milavec’s point that some people seem to be mistakenly thinking that the 75% of revenue that gets sacrificed to the TIF district is on the full, in my example, $120 (equating to $90 in TIF support while the taxing body would only get to keep $30), that’s not the source of my own problem with this particular TIF district consideration. I think that the burden the village has of showing that “if not for” the TIF money we would not see good growth in EAV (property valuation) is a tough one. And, of course, PVB did agree to hire a consultant at about $77,000 to determine this and all else about the potential for such a TIF establishment, already.

To me, the Rt. 30 corridor in question may be “blighted” (though it might not meet that requirement, either), but I still think that the odds are high that the values of the property there will go up well enough through the Rt. 30 road improvements being made that the village will have a tough time proving that the area will NOT increase enough in value on its own “if not for” being established as a TIF district.

So, take a look and a listen and see what you think. This part of the meeting starts in part two, about 8m35s in and spills over into the first dozen minutes of part three, so it’s nearly a half hour of discussion.

Also, note that there must and will be several meetings where taxpayers can (though we don’t get a “vote”) express themselves on the issue. Contact the Village of Plainfield to get more info on that—administration can be reached via phone 815-436-7093 or email info@goplainfield.com.

You can see meeting agendas and, as they become available, minutes for the board’s meetings on the library’s website: Plainfield Public Library, board page.

As always, should you have any questions regarding this content, please feel free to contact me at radical4plainfield@gmail.com or via regular mail at Polito, PO Box 1071, Plainfield, IL 60544.