Correction: This piece was updated at 12:15 p.m. Tuesday to remove incorrect information regarding the TIF district boundaries. The district is from East Taylor Street south to I-88.
DeKALB — The DeKalb City Council had a public hearing Monday to discuss a new tax increment financing (TIF) district.
The TIF district would increase property tax rates for selected areas by an incremented value. The increased tax collected in the district would be used for improvement projects within the TIF district.
A map of the proposed TIF district can be found on the city of DeKalb website.
The new TIF district would include select areas from East Taylor Street south to the I-88 expressway.
“If you do the numbers, you can see that for the last five consecutive years the rise in the incremental value of your properties has been substantially lower than the average rise across the city,” City Manager Bill Nicklas said.
The City Council said there are no planned uses for the funds yet, and they will be waiting for businesses to approach them for suggested land use.
DeKalb resident Mark Charvat said he does not support the TIF district.
“I am firmly against this, even though I live in the area,” Charvat said. “If you look up TIF it’s referred to as little more than a subsidy for the private sector which takes away your tax dollars from schools and other important services.”
First Ward Alderman Carolyn Zasada said that TIF districts have had a positive impact in DeKalb.
“Looking at DeKalb as a case study and looking at how it has been effective for downtown, I think is a good example of how it (TIF districts) has worked successfully in our specific community,” Zasada said.
The proposed TIF area qualifies as a conservation area under the TIF Act. A conservation area is an area with 50% of structures that are 35 or more years old. According to the city, that area has significant obsolescence, deteriorating infrastructure and many buildings demanding rehabilitation.
City Clerk Salary
The City Council passed an ordinance decreasing the salary of the city clerk from $8,000 to $0. The ordinance also increases the salary of council members by approximately 2.5%. The ordinance comes ahead of a ballot measure in November that will ask voters to decide if the position of city clerk should be an appointed rather than elected office.
DeKalb Mayor Cohen Barnes said that as a result of past failures, all clerk duties have been given to Executive Assistant Ruth Scott.
“There’s no more duties left. All the duties, because it’s (the clerk’s office) been such a trainwreck, we’ve had to move from the clerk to [Scott],” Barnes said.
Since 2009 the city of DeKalb has had difficulty with the office of city clerk.
In March a judge ruled that the most recently elected City Clerk, Sasha Cohen, forfeited his position when he failed to submit economic interest forms. According to Nicklas, Cohen’s duties have been taken by Scott.
New Hotel on Peace Road
The council approved a final development plan for TownePlace Suites and Fairfield Inn Hotel at 902 Peace Road. The hotel will be four stories and have 120 rooms. Work on the hotel is expected to start in early September. The applicant to build the hotel, Pramit Patel, owns and operates the Hampton Inn and Home2Suites hotels along South Annie Glidden Road.
