Palatine taking steps toward new TIF District

Palatine is exploring a possible tax increment financing district on land along and adjacent to Dundee Road between Route 53 and Baldwin Road.

The 44-acre area includes a vacant Holiday Inn Express along with 23 other buildings and 17 tax parcels.

“It’s a very small area that’s being looked at,” Village Manager Reid Ottesen said. “Whatever is going to take place up there is going to need a lot of infrastructure assistance.”

Ottesen said the village council on Monday will decide whether to set up an Interested Parties Registry for residents or organizations to receive information if the TIF district is approved.

That is the first step in a process that will include a May 29 Joint Review Board meeting with potentially impacted taxing bodies — such as school, park and library districts — followed by a public hearing and potential approval by the council.

A TIF district is an economic development took that freezes property taxes within the district's boundaries at current levels, usually for 23 years. During that time, new property tax revenue created through new development is diverted from local governments and placed in a special village account, from which it’s used to pay for improvements within the district.

The village hired SB Friedman Development Advisors, LLC in August 2023 to conduct a redevelopment project area feasibility study and prepare a redevelopment plan. Friedman’s draft report determined that the proposed district would qualify as a “conservation area” under TIF rules.

At least three-quarters of the primary structures are 35 years old or older, the report states. There is also lack of growth in assessed value, deterioration, structures below minimum code standards and inadequate utilities, according to the report.