Mount Prospect, District 214 talking over TIF dispute
Officials from Mount Prospect and Northwest Suburban High School District 214 are meeting behind closed doors to hash out differences related to the village's creation of a new tax increment financing district.
The negotiations are over a possible intergovernmental agreement that would resolve a lawsuit the district filed June 19 against the village. But it appears both sides are still far apart.
"We'll see what happens," said Mount Prospect Village Manager Mike Cassady. "We had a meeting last week. Again, we're kind of standing by."
District 214 contends the village circumvented the "spirit and intent" of state law when it created the new TIF district, which covers much of the same downtown area as a recently retired district. The school district opposes the new TIF district because it diverts additional property tax revenues generated by new development to economic development projects - money that would otherwise be coming to them and other taxing bodies.
The village, meanwhile, argues the new TIF district is needed because of lagging property values and growth downtown.
Both sides had been in talks months ago, with meetings held Jan. 31 and Feb. 10, that resulted in the district's proposing terms for an agreement on March 27.
But 84 days later with no response from the village, the district filed suit, according to a letter school board President Todd Younger sent last week to Mayor Arlene Juracek and trustees.
The day after the suit was filed, Cassady proposed a compromise, saying District 214's proposed agreement would have rendered the new TIF district moot because of the amount of TIF district revenue that would have been siphoned off.
Younger said there are so many variables in the village's counterproposal that there's no guarantee any surplus payments will ever be made.
Before both sides had agreed to regular in-person meetings, Cassady had requested permission to make a presentation at the July 20 school board meeting. That meeting was canceled due to a lack of agenda items - a typical practice for a summertime school board meeting - but District 214 spokeswoman Jen Delgado said both sides in the meantime had agreed to private talks.
Both sides are both due in court on Oct. 17.