TIF dead in Riverside
5/22/2007 10:00:00 PM
Village president says numbers just don't work anymore
By BOB UPHUES
One of the most polarizing issues to face Riverside in recent years was laid to rest Monday night, as Village President Harold J. Wiaduck Jr. announced that the effort to establish a tax increment financing (TIF) district in downtown Riverside was over.
Wiaduck read a prepared statement at the beginning of the board's regular business meeting on May 21, stating that modifications to the plan made over several months had doomed the TIF, despite the continued need for economic redevelopment in downtown Riverside.
"The whole thing was predicated on the assignment of a certain amount of taxes over a 23-year period," said Wiaduck in a separate interview. "When we went back with additional adjustment, it drove that number down below the minimum amount required."
Wiaduck denied that the reason to kill the TIF proposal was due to pressure from opposition groups or because of the advisory referendum on April 17, in which residents voted 4-to-1 against creating a TIF in Riverside.
"I believe we made the decision on actual decision factors as opposed to emotional factors," Wiaduck said. "We made a good evaluation of the numbers."
The fact that the village would have had to spend another $50,000 to complete the TIF process in the next several months also played a role in the decision. The village has already expended over $100,000 related to the TIF process, which began in early 2006.
"When we had to expend an amount that might have been equal to what we've already spent, it didn't seem like good financial sense," Wiaduck said.
Opponents of the TIF, who had formed the Concerned Citizens for Riverside, agreed that the continuing expense had something to do with the demise of the TIF, but added that mounting political pressure played an important role as well.
"It was obvious that the longer they did this, the more public opinion was on our side," said Lonnie Sacchi, a member of the Concerned Citizens for Riverside. Sacchi is an occasional opinion columnist and feature writer for the Landmark.
Sacchi said that the group was gearing up to vigorously oppose the TIF and was contemplating the creation of a legal fund to fight its creation in court.
Sacchi said that members of the group, including himself, had met with attorney Joe Morris, the one-time Republican candidate for Cook County Board president. While the group hadn't publicly announced the possibility of legal action, Sacchi said the group's motives were known by the board.
"I think it was a combination of the political price they were paying and the possibility of legal action against them," Sacchi said.
The board was expected to vote Monday on continuing its contract with Kane, McKenna & Associates, its consultant throughout the TIF process. Two weeks earlier, on May 7, a majority of trustees appeared to be leaning toward continuing with the TIF process. At that time they voted to wait until Monday, when two new board members would be sworn in.
Instead, killing the TIF ended up being the final act of the sitting board.
"Maybe we should have been more aggressive in presenting our views," said Trustee Thomas Shields, a consistent supporter of the TIF at the board level. "It's so very discouraging to spend so much time ferreting out options and have it turn out this way."
By foregoing the TIF, the board will now be faced with coming up with alternatives to revitalize the central business district and create revenue that could support that revitalization effort.
In his comments at the meeting, Wiaduck suggested that the opposition to the TIF "demonstrates a reluctance on the part of the community to address the long-standing decreased growth in the tax base of the area."
But Mike Gorman, a TIF opponent who is also a member of the village's ad hoc long range financial planning committee, took umbrage with that point of view.
"This is absolutely wrong," Gorman said. "I opposed the means to do it. All I'm happy about is that we're moving on. ... I hope I can be part of the solution."
Mark Shevitz, another member of the Concerned Citizens for Riverside, said he also wants to see revitalization downtown, but that he opposed the TIF as a means to accomplish it.
"Clearly, it doesn't change the fact that there's work to do in revitalizing downtown," Shevitz said. "I hope we can look at options and get residents more involved. I think the way forward is more input from citizens. I think the board underestimates the residents. If we can harness the power of the residents of Riverside we can do great things."
Village Manager Kathleen Rush said the loss of the TIF "takes one arrow out of the quiver, and there are fewer and fewer arrows to provide opportunities to finance village projects and operational needs.
"We'll see if there are other things more palatable or other financing mechanisms. If not, we'll suffer the consequences."