In a market flush with competition, to garner a major business is a success for a small city like Sycamore.

Attracting business is all about marketability, and there is concern Sycamore may lose that vital tool, 4th Ward Alderman Terry Kessler said.

The city does not have a unified commitment to tax abatement, Kessler said, and this is the cause of the school district’s separate policy.

While the city offers a stepped plan to reduce taxes over a company’s first three years after relocation, the school district offers no tax accommodation for that initial year.

For the following three years after the first, the school district offers a 90, 75 and 50 percent abatement, the same amounts as the city, only pushed back one year.

The school board is not the only taxing body in Sycamore with a separate plan. Another body is Kishwaukee College, 21193 Malta Road, but it does not represent 60 to 65 percent of the property tax bill as the school district does, said Roger Hopkins, executive director of the DeKalb County Economic Development Corporation.

The greatest fear, Sycamore Mayor John Swedberg said, is that Sycamore will begin losing in the ultra-competitive market.

“What concerns me [is] that I’m not fully competitive with a city like DeKalb,” he said.

The problem is realizing when that marketability is lost before too many businesses shy away from the city, Swedberg said.

Businesses often anonymously contact the city and ask for business-related information, Swedberg said. Sometimes city officials do not even know the person’s name.

Others act only as representatives, independent of the company – they may call back or they may not, he said.

This happens on a weekly basis and is common to municipalities, Swedberg said

Luke Glowyiak, business manager for the district, defended the policy. There is no evidence that separate policies have discouraged potential development, he said.

The difficulty is that no immediate evidence exists, Swedberg said. Time reveals how ineffective the policy might be, but only after businesses have been discouraged.

School board member John McBride said the school district must create its own provisions out of financial necessity.

At the same time, he said, the board is willing to review its policies on an annual basis, and if it is obvious the policy is hurting the community, it may change.

“All of this is still a work in progress,” McBride said.

Beyond having a distinct policy, Hopkins said the district’s abatement policy benefits larger companies, whereas Sycamore is more apt to attract small- to medium-size employers.

More businesses diversify the city’s tax base and support less reliance on residents, Hopkins said.

“[Taxes on] 10 percent of a $200,000 building is much more money than 100 percent of bare land,” Kessler said.

People spend money where they live, she said, and with a greater array of businesses, there is more employment and consequently greater tax revenue.