Dist. 203 supports Navistar TIF

Rarely do taxing bodies such as school district welcome tax-increment finance districts with open arms. But a uniquely structured deal between Lisle officials and Navistar actually may benefit Naperville Unit District 203 in the first year of the deal rather than the usual 23rd year.

The village of Lisle has entered an agreement with Navistar to create a TIF district for the 88-acre parcel just east of Naperville Drive on Warrenville Road. Ideally, the proposed district would create development funds for the site over 23 years by taking the property taxes paid by Navistar over the 2009 base equalized assessed valuation of $25,985,520.

Assistant Superintendent for Finance David Zager said Monday that one of the unique features of the proposed TIF is that Lucent received a reduction in the EAV for 2009. In 2008 the EAV was $36,339,550; Lucent received the roughly $10 million reduction in EAV because the property was unoccupied and not being used.

“Navistar and Lisle have agreed that for the duration of the TIF, the participating underlying taxing districts will be reimbursed their tax rate for that $10 million out of the surplus funds for the TIF district each year, Zager said. “So in essence, as the EAV rises, rather than typically we would see all that money go into the TIF, they will declare that surplus up to that $10 million increase and return that to the taxing districts such as our school district.

The funds distributed to District 203 from the TIF should equal or slightly exceed the taxes that would have been paid due to the natural increase in EAV.

At the conclusion of the TIF the 2034 tax levy consultants have predicted the final EAV at a range of $73.2 million to $76.8 million for an incremental increase of $47.2 million to $50.8 million. District 203 then would realize an increase in property taxes of about $1.9 million for that year, and every year after that.

“That really helps us a great deal in mitigating any loss of EAV because of the TIF for all of our taxpayers who would have had to pick up that additional cost, Zager said. “That's a real positive economic development for us.

The Joint Review Board will meet at 10 a.m. Oct. 26, and are expected to vote in favor of the TIF. Lisle also has scheduled a Dec. 6 public hearing to gather input from residents.

Navistar officials have maintained the TIF is an important piece of the deal, and a $20 million rebate is a drop in the bucket compared to the $100 million investment the company is making. They also cite the millions of dollars in various tax and fee revenues that will be generated by the new employees the company is bringing to the area.

Almost 1,600 new jobs will be created if the move goes through, officials say. Navistar currently is headquartered in Warrenville and houses 1,500 employees, but the company is adding the 1,600 posts to the new headquarters. Company officials said the Lisle building has a capacity for roughly 4,150 employees.

Ÿ Daily Herald Staff Writer Jake Griffin contributed to this report