Batavia school board approves TIF agreement for Aurora casino

The Batavia District 101 School Board voted at its Oct. 24 meeting to approve an intergovernmental agreement to create a tax increment financing district for a new Aurora casino.

Documents indicate the board had been shown plans for a new casino and hotel on Farnsworth Avenue near Bilter Road on land that currently is not being used.

Aurora is seeking an intergovernmental agreement to restructure the existing tax increment financing district around the casino development, according to documents.

“This casino TIF will pull a series of parcels out of TIF 7 as it exists and turn it into this new Farnsworth, Bilter TIF,” Batavia Chief Financial Officer Anton Inglese said.

Documents said the agreement required that the board would “refrain from actions or statements that could jeopardize the new TIF initiative.”

“We’re approving an intergovernmental agreement. We’re not approving an NDA [nondisclosure agreement].” Inglese said. “You wouldn’t do an NDA in a public school district. We’re doing an IGA.”

Inglese said the city of Aurora owns the TIF parcel included in the TIF and it is not generating revenue for the district.

District 101 also will not receive property tax revenue from the property for a minimum of 23 years, with the potential for a longer time frame, documents said.

The school district instead will receive 10% of the new TIF district’s incremental property tax as surplus. Documents estimated the arrangement could net the district $300,000 a year.

“We have an existing IGA on Aurora TIF’s 7 and 8 that work very much the same way,” Inglese said. “[The TIFs] disperse a surplus of 10% of whatever the increment is to the taxing bodies. And for the same kind of agreements that they won’t contest or not support the TIF itself.”

“What we have here is very much a replica of an IGA we already have in place,” Inglese said.

Several community members at the meeting spoke against the plan during public comment, citing that the decision could cost the district $74 million.

“Your body is making decisions today that affect a full generation that we don’t even know about yet,” one parent said during public comment.

Inglese said the district would not have an opportunity to negotiate the 10% surplus.

“Ultimately you vote on their plan – yes or no,” Inglese said.

District 101 Superintendent Tom Kim said the city of Aurora is not obligated to offer the school board an agreement within the IGA.

“I have been in other districts where TIF discussions have occurred,“ Kim said. “[Cities] plow right through what they want to do.”

The district’s $140 million facilities referendum was voted down for the second time in April.

“We’re budgeting $300,000 to upgrade fire alarms at Louise White Elementary School,” Board Vice President Aaron Kilburg said.