According to a letter from Andrea Gorla to Rudy Espiritu, District 428 has experienced about a 17% loss in property values (EAV) since voters approved a $110 million school construction referendum in 2008 and creating another TIF district is only adding to an escalating tax rate.
click for enlarged view
Gorla is the Assistant Superintendent of Business and Finance for District 428. Espiritu is the Interim City Manager for the City of DeKalb. The letter was distributed to aldermen as part of the back-up material for the August 12 city council meeting which included an omnibus public hearing for the creation of two new TIF districts.
At its July meeting the District 428 Board of Education chose to support the creation of the new Sycamore Road TIF district since it has a sharing agreement within the project to declare surpluses.
The South Fourth Street TIF district does not have a surplus sharing agreement because, according to the letter, there is not enough projected revenue generated for declaring surpluses, primarily due to the cost of the project. District 428 opposed the proposed South Fourth Street TIF district.
District 428 believes that TIF at this juncture is only adding to the problem of escalating the tax rate.
Over the last 4 years District 428 has lost about 17% in property values. The school district’s operating tax rate increased by $1.633 since 2008 and that does not include the increase due to the referendum bonds which are escalating as well, according to Gorla.
The Board of Education finds it difficult to see how adding another TIF district would benefit District 428 in these current economic times of declining EAV’s if there is no additional growth in the community.
According to the letter the timing of establishing a new TIF district in this current economic condition only places further stress on the existing homeowners and businesses without development outside of the new and existing TIF districts.
| 2008 – Rate setting EAV: | $837,577,416 | Tax rate (operating): | $4.70972 |
| 2012 – Rate setting EAV: | $696,115,787 | Tax rate (operating): | $6.34272 |
Loss in property value: $141,461,787* | Tax rate increase of: $1.633** |
* Loss of property value listed is inclusive of taxable land within the boundaries of CUSD #428
** Does not include the increase due to the referendum bonds
How to get involved and participate in the process.
Below are email links to Mayor John Rey and the seven aldermen. Click the link to email each individual person or CLICK HERE to email the entire body. Be sure to request that your name is added to the TIF Interested Party Registry so that you receive updates on TIF related developments.
| Mayor John Rey | David Jacobson First Ward | Bill Finucane Second Ward | Kristen Lash Third Ward |
| Bob Snow Fourth Ward | Ron Naylor Fifth Ward | Dave Baker Sixth Ward | Monica O’Leary Seventh Ward |
Additional related reading:
FOIA Response 8/7/2013 Additional FOIA Response 8/12/2013
More on DeKalb’s TIF
Click Here To Submit A News Tip Or Story
1 Comment
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Sharing agreement of surpluses. In other words as former DeKalb City Manager would like to call it,”making whole”. This “sharing of surpluses” agreement is not shared by any other taxing body within the TIF. These losses that Andrea Gorla mentions is the losses that the Sanitary, Park and Library Districts are seeing in all of the other TIFS within DeKalb. This is exactly why Malta resident Kerry Mellot has mentioned the lack of fairness to District 428 property owners outside of DeKalb. Now that School District has to take an equal chance like the other TIF partners, they don’t wish to help the blighted south side improve it appearance and way of life for those residents. Bottom line, TIF Districts in DeKalb as implemented are not GOOD for the overall well being of property owners in DeKalb or School District 428. This has just been proven by the powers to be at District 428.