GENEVA – Geneva aldermen supported a resolution Monday to propose a third tax increment finance district and redevelopment project area, despite being asked by Geneva School District 304 officials to delay their action.
Aldermen voted, 9-1, with 1st Ward Alderman Tara Burghart voting “no.”
The issue will advance to a public hearing May 16, officials said.
The Committee of the Whole last week recommended designating a 98-acre parcel as the Geneva Fox River Redevelopment Project Area, covering commercial and residential properties and open space along the river.
A tax increment finance district is a tool municipalities use to stimulate development by diverting the increased assessed value of property and sales taxes to redevelopment. A TIF area can be used in areas that are blighted or with excessive vacancies.
But school district attorney Rick Petesch said the resolution contains “several misstatements of law and fact that must be reconsidered before the city should move forward.”
Private enterprise already has been active in the redevelopment area, Petesch said.
Petesch said that “excessive vacancies” were determined by square footage, rather than by parcels. Petesch said using the square footage of the large Mill Race Inn parcel inflated the vacancies in the proposed redevelopment area.
“TIF is the wrong vehicle for the city to use as incentive for areas that would developed,” Petesch said. “TIF has a detrimental effect on the district. ... I am urging the council not to approve this resolution.”
City officials said the objections should be addressed during the TIF public hearing process.
Burghart, who voted in favor of the TIF at Committee of the Whole last week, said she regretted that vote.
“This is prime riverfront property,” Burghart said. “It will be developed.”