* Subscribers know more. CBS Chicago…
The new study from the Cook County Treasurer’s office underlines growing concerns about the impact the [megaproject/Bears bill] could have on the county’s property tax base and overall fiscal health. The study estimates the bill will likely allow the Bears to save tens of millions of dollars in taxes every year, while not guaranteeing the taxes the team does pay will be enough to cover enhanced and needed services.
Illinois state Rep. Kam Buckner (D-Chicago) is one of the lead negotiators behind the megaprojects bill, and his district includes Soldier Field, where the Bears currently play. In a post on X, Buckner said he believes major development deals should be analyzed in a public forum. […]
“With that said; This report is kind of magical,” Buckner wrote. “They’re doing field-of-dreams budgeting: ‘If you kill the bill, the project will still come.’ That’s not analysis. That’s fantasy accounting.”
Buckner wrote that there is no alternative in which the problems the Treasurer’s office is worried about are averted by the Bears paying full property taxes. The alternative to a state deal to facilitate the stadium, he wrote, is the stadium never being built.
* Press release…
State Senator Ram Villivalam (D-Chicago) and State Representative Eva-Dina Delgado (D-Chicago) released the following statement after introducing House Bill 2335.
“We look forward to the enactment of the transformational reforms and funding in Senate Bill 2111 that will put us on a path to providing a safe, reliable, accessible, and integrated world class public transit system for our entire state. The legislation introduced today consists of technical changes to further streamline the implementation of and provide additional clarity to the Northern Illinois Transit Authority Act ahead of its June 1st effective date.”
* Bond Buyer…
[A] bill would allow cash basis accounting rather than the more rigorous Generally Accepted Accounting Principles for municipalities with under $35 million in annual cash receipts.
It would let municipalities classify themselves in the lowest category for which they qualify based on their three previous years of cash receipts, with the lower three of four categories eligible for cash basis accounting rather than GAAP. […]
The Government Reporting Enhancement and Transparency Act, HB 5391, would also sunset the requirement for an annual municipal comptroller’s report showing information such as the bonds and debts payable during the year. For fiscal years ending after Jan. 1, 2028, the municipal comptroller would no longer be required to send a copy of that report to the state comptroller. […]
“We need to hit a strategic pause (on the bill), because we know this is going to take longer, [said Marty Green, vice president of government relations for ICPAS], noting the legislature’s May 31 adjournment date.
* Rep. Bob Morgan this morning…
* NPR Illinois…
Illinois lawmakers are considering a sweeping rewrite of state cannabis regulations aimed at easing financial pressure on dispensaries and preparing for possible federal marijuana policy changes.
Discussed Tuesday during a subject matter hearing before the House Executive Committee, House Bill 5784 would remove a requirement that dispensaries hire third-party security contractors, expand cannabis possession limits and create pathways for hemp businesses to enter Illinois’ regulated cannabis market.
The proposal would also make changes involving medical cannabis access, licensing, testing requirements, taxes, drive-through pickup and social equity business programs. […]
Industry groups generally supported the concept but said negotiations are continuing over amendment language.
* Center Square…
A push to regulate artificial intelligence products in Illinois has taken a major step toward becoming law. The plan, which has broad support from industry leaders, would require transparency and expanded safety measures from many AI companies.
Senate Bill 315, officially known as ‘The Artificial Intelligence Safety Measures Act,’ would require AI companies such as OpenAI – sometimes referred to as ‘frontier’ AI companies – to conduct and share findings of annual third-party audits and disclose safety incidents to the state.
According to Rep. Daniel Didech, D-Buffalo Grove, who is carrying the bill in the House, said the bill is nearly the same as measures passed in New York and California. […]
Jeremy Kudon, the director of American Innovators Network, said while the Illinois proposal is similar to the other states, the inclusion of an additional provision requiring third-party audits is nowhere to be seen in other states.
“There is no company in the United States that’s actually accredited or credentialed to audit AI generative models or frontier models,” Kudon said.
* WAND…
Sponsors said the state’s 2019 law legalizing adult-use cannabis created regulations that were necessary at the time but were overly burdensome for many small and social equity cannabis businesses.
House Bill 5784 and Senate Bill 20 could reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens to help those businesses thrive.
The legislation would also address major changes in federal policy surrounding THC.
“If you want to keep selling CBD hemp products, non-intoxicating hemp products, we want to make it as easy as possible to register with the state,” said Rep. Will Guzzardi (D-Chicago). “We propose a $200 registration fee. You fill out a form and you can just keep selling these products.” […]
The proposals were heard during two separate subject matter hearings Tuesday. Neither plan received a committee vote.
* WAND…
Decatur leaders are hopeful Illinois lawmakers will pass a bill by Sunday to develop a new horse racing track in Macon County. […]
“Opportunities like this don’t come around every day for Decatur,” said Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe. “While we work really hard to grow our own success stories and make economic development happen, something like this is a game-changer.” […]
State senators passed a plan to create the Decatur racino on a 49-8 vote in October, but that bill has stalled in the House.
“This is a crucial piece of legislation because it creates a unique opportunity for economic benefit in both counties located within the 48th district,” said Sen. Doris Turner (D-Springfield). “There is also a commitment for infrastructure upgrades at the Illinois State Fairgrounds that will expand year-round training opportunities while strengthening the entire regional horse racing ecosystem.”
* Sen. Steve Stadelman…
To protect renters from unfair and excessive housing costs, State Senator Steve Stadelman is spearheading legislation that would prevent landlords from passing broker and leasing agent fees onto tenants. […]
Broker and leasing agent fees are common in the rental housing market to compensate agents for marketing properties, showing units, screening applicants and facilitating lease agreements. These fees are often structured as either flat fees or percentages of annual rent and can add thousands of dollars to the cost of securing housing. In many cases, landlords hire brokers to manage rental transactions but require prospective tenants to pay the broker’s commission in addition to application and screening fees.
Senate Bill 329 would prohibit landlords and property owners from requiring tenants or prospective tenants to retain, engage with or pay a fee to a real estate broker or residential leasing agent hired by the landlord. The measure would also prohibit landlords from directing brokers or leasing agents to collect payment from tenants for services performed on behalf of the landlord or property owner. […]
Senate Bill 329 passed the Senate Executive Committee Tuesday and heads to the full Senate.
* Sen. Mike Simmons…
To help communities preserve affordable, accessible housing and protect residents from displacement, State Senator Mike Simmons advanced legislation that would provide tenants with the right-of-first-refusal to purchase their property, specifically with a 90- day notice to tenants from the property owner before accepting or listing a building sale. […]
“As housing costs continue to rise and private equity gentrification continues to threaten communities like Edgewater, Rogers Park and all of Illinois, we need practical tools that help keep working families, seniors and long-time residents in the communities they call home,” said Simmons (D-Chicago). “This legislation balances the need to expand and preserve housing with strong protections for property owners through the right of first refusal, fair valuation requirements and a transparent acquisition process.”
* Sen. Mattie Hunter…
State Senator Mattie Hunter is leading sweeping legislation that would reform exclusionary zoning laws and open new pathways for affordable, diverse housing across the state. […]
The measure would require local governments across Illinois to allow middle housing – such as duplexes, triplexes, and similar multi-unit buildings – in single-family zoning districts, while giving municipalities the option to set their own design standards – or default to state standards – governing things like building height, setbacks and lot coverage.
All qualifying developments would be required to designate at least 40% of units as affordable for households earning between 80–120% of the area median income. The bill also would allow municipalities to establish Protected Small Rental Housing Areas, where new development cannot displace existing 2–4 unit rental properties unless demolition is municipality-initiated or safety-required, in which case any redevelopment must include at least as many units as were previously on the site.
Illinois, like much of the nation, faces a significant housing shortage driven in large part by decades of restrictive single-family zoning. By legalizing a wider range of housing types in established neighborhoods – near jobs, transit, schools and other services – Hunter’s measure would help lower housing costs, reduce displacement and create more equitable communities throughout the state. […]
Senate Bill 640 passed the Senate Executive Committee Tuesday and heads to the full Senate for further consideration.
For more press releases on legislation and other matters, click here.
- crockett - Wednesday, May 27, 26 @ 9:39 am:
I wonder how the research report from the Treasurer’s Office concluded that Arlington Heights is 38 miles from the City of Chicago.
- Sue - Wednesday, May 27, 26 @ 9:56 am:
“The alternative to a state deal to facilitate the stadium, he wrote, is the stadium never being built.”
Oh, boo hoo hoo.
The former Arlington Park site will not stay vacant. That’s absurd.
- just because - Wednesday, May 27, 26 @ 10:21 am:
After watching Pappas interviewed last night on WGN, it is so obvious that she has drank the same koolaid that the mayor has. Her goal is to tank the bill and thinks that the Bears will stay in Chicago. She thinks that there is another location in the city that they can find to build on but of course she did not state where. Mostly it was just how giving them a tax break in Arlington hts would cause the locals property taxes to rise to make up the short fall. Nothing about how the build up of an entertainment district would make up that short fall with new taxes.
- Johnny B - Wednesday, May 27, 26 @ 10:31 am:
How did Arlington Heights get by all these years with only 3 million in property tax revenue from the 100 or so days of racing that 600,000-700,000 fans enjoyed?
- The Farm Grad - Wednesday, May 27, 26 @ 10:38 am:
” Her goal is to tank the bill”…and ensure that working and middle-class taxpayers don’t get disparate impact.
Why should a family with a 10B sports franchise, whose value has grown at a 12% cagr over the last two decades, get property tax relief, while a struggling working-class family in the south suburbs pays over 5% of its net worth in property taxes every year?
- It's always Sunny in Illinois - Wednesday, May 27, 26 @ 10:49 am:
Buckner wrote. “They’re doing field-of-dreams budgeting:
Similar to Mr Buckners $1.29 in Property “tax relief” math….?
- Johnny B - Wednesday, May 27, 26 @ 10:51 am:
So you think the construction of this several billion dollar project would somehow result in less tax revenue for the next 40 or 50 to the community than the status quo?
Any other development on this parcel would certainly also require massive new infrastructure and if there were homes would certainly require more classrooms etc.
The Bears currently draw less total fans per season than Arlington Park did in a season.
- Sue - Wednesday, May 27, 26 @ 11:00 am:
There is no reason to believe that the entertainment district will make up the shortfall for Arlington Heights. Everything non-residential will be TIF’ed. Sales taxes will be redirected to the Bears. Amusement tax will go to the county or state. etc
- timzilla - Wednesday, May 27, 26 @ 11:09 am:
“There is no reason to believe that the entertainment district will make up the shortfall for Arlington Heights. Everything non-residential will be TIF’ed. Sales taxes will be redirected to the Bears. Amusement tax will go to the county or state. etc”
There is no shortfalls in Arlington Heights. The racetrack has been vacant since 2021 and was substantially underassessed when in operation. Yet, Arlington Heights has survived and thrived.
Now there is a separate argument on whether or not the residents want or need the stadium, but if the stadium project is completed it will result in hundreds of milions in property tax revenue that has never been there before.
- Just Another Anon - Wednesday, May 27, 26 @ 11:10 am:
>The former Arlington Park site will not stay vacant. That’s absurd.
I dunno, I feel like people said that about the old Tinley Park Mental Hospital. That was vacant and abandoned for about 15 years before it was demolished last year. That too was about 300 acres as I recall and just got taken by the Park District (which does not pay taxes) for a sporting area.
I suppose your statement is technically correct in that something, sometime, will eventually get built there, maybe. The real question is the “when”,”what”, and will it be taxable. Perhaps the Arlington property will end up getting donated to the Illinois Audubon for a nice tax credit to the Bears and will go off the tax rolls entirely. That would be quite the thumb in the eye to all units of government involved.
You can’t treat major development as a “what if” game, nor can you treat it as merely moving jobs and income around within the State as many pols have learned. If you keep assuming that some “higher better use” will be around the corner just waiting for its opportunity, you’ll never develop anything while you keep waiting for white smoke. There are very few bigger developmental projects than a major sporting venue with adjacent mixed use commercial/residential areas. As the old joke ends, if you drown after God sends a rowboat, a motor boat, and a helicopter, that ones on you.
So, the properly framed question is whether 100% of the taxes on a vacant lot for, say, 15 years (if apples are apples), are better than 50% of the taxes on a giant entertainment venue for 20 years, and 100% of the taxes on the adjacent entertainment district.
- TNR - Wednesday, May 27, 26 @ 11:12 am:
I think Pappas’s main goal was to get tons of media attention — and she succeeded. The person who conducted her “study” is a former Trib reporter. They know how to get attention.
- City Zen - Wednesday, May 27, 26 @ 11:17 am:
Not legal, Bob.
- Flyin' Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Wednesday, May 27, 26 @ 11:34 am:
“Not legal, Bob”
Neither is sedition, but, when in Rome.
- Anyone Remember - Wednesday, May 27, 26 @ 11:50 am:
The “cash not GAAP” bill is wrong on so many levels it’d take a Ph.D. dissertation to list them. I’ll illustrate with this little factoid. In IOC’s Local Government section of their website, there is a Delinquent Report option (the report in generated when you select the option).
As of this morning, there are 3 delinquent reports (2 from Dixmoor, 1 from Centreville, all TIFs) … from 2000. Yes, 2000 - not 2020, not 2010, 2000. There are 5 from 2001 (in addition to those above, 2 from Brooklyn, both annual audits / reports).
IF this bill is enacted, Truth in Advertising would require it be titled “The Eric J. Kellogg Memorial Relief Act” …
- Cool Papa Bell - Wednesday, May 27, 26 @ 11:55 am:
If the Bears really wanted to build the stadium in Indiana on a barren, pollution fouled wasteland in direct sight the largest oil refinery in the midwest - they would be well on their way.
The Bears don’t want to go to that site. Force their hand. Make a decent deal in AH and keep the team in Illinois. But don’t give anything away.
- Demoralized - Wednesday, May 27, 26 @ 12:01 pm:
==Not legal, Bob.==
Unless you wear a black robe your opinion doesn’t mean anything.
- Demoralized - Wednesday, May 27, 26 @ 12:02 pm:
==Neither is sedition,==
January 6th apologists are just as bad as the perpetrators themselves.
- Rahm's Parking Meter - Wednesday, May 27, 26 @ 12:28 pm:
Maria Pappas just launced her Mayoral campaign. She sounded so certain that the Bears won’t go to Indiana on the Score this morning, it can come back to haunt her…
- Excitable Boy - Wednesday, May 27, 26 @ 12:56 pm:
- January 6th apologists are just as bad as the perpetrators themselves. -
I don’t disagree but this is still not a serious proposal, it’s just another performative stunt for social media that Morgan seems to live for.
- Just Another Anon - Wednesday, May 27, 26 @ 1:14 pm:
>Make a decent deal … But don’t give anything away
Ah yes, the old “put it all in one bag, but don’t make it too heavy” line all grocery store baggers love.
- Dotnonymous x - Wednesday, May 27, 26 @ 1:47 pm:
- “Opportunities like this don’t come around every day for Decatur,” said Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe. -
That may be because Decatur has a history of rejecting those opportunities…beginning with rejecting a mall that would have positively transformed Decatur…and continuing today with the ridiculous rejection of cannabis dispensaries.
- 40,000 ft - Wednesday, May 27, 26 @ 2:11 pm:
I appreciate the IL Legislature trying to get ahead of the AI situation with their bill.
(It would all be banned if I was dictator for a day. /s)
Maybe next session, Illinois could address
-stealing copyrighted material
-”metering” our ability to research data that was scraped for free, violating copyright. (This is being discussed by Altman, this week, and imo will create a very huge chasm between haves/havenots.)
-de-personing and de-banking using erroneous ai with nearly impossible path to correct.
AI mistakes, miscalculations, fiascos, etc, is a good rabbit hole.
It would be great if Illinois could get up some guard rails, with teeth, on these soon-to-be common issues.
- The Farm Grad - Wednesday, May 27, 26 @ 2:13 pm:
“with the ridiculous rejection of cannabis dispensaries. ”
Chinese schools inculcate in children the Century of Humiliation, emphasizing how the West addicted millions of Chinese to opium.
And here our own governing class champions cannabis? Even the NYT editorial board, about three months ago, conceded that it was a huge mistake to have legalized cannabis, and that the NYT editorial board regretted having supported it
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, May 27, 26 @ 2:15 pm:
===the NYT editorial board regretted having supported it===
Whatever.
Locking people in steel cages for smoking weed is barbaric.
- Dotnonymous x - Wednesday, May 27, 26 @ 2:19 pm:
Opium is not cannabis…the Sun is also not the Moon.
- slippery slope - Wednesday, May 27, 26 @ 3:11 pm:
Right now the Bears pay about $7 million a year in rent to be at Soldier Field, and pay $0 property tax. That rent goes to the Chicago Park District, NOT to the County, Chicago Public Schools, or anyone else. A $10 million a year property tax bill at Arlington would be an increase to the County. and Arlington heights
- Michael McLean - Wednesday, May 27, 26 @ 4:31 pm:
===40% of units as affordable for households earning between 80–120% of the area median income===
Kiss financing good bye for a duplex, 3 flat, 4 flat with an unfunded mandate like this.
===new development cannot displace existing 2–4 unit rental properties unless demolition is municipality-initiated or safety-required, in which case any redevelopment must include at least as many units as were previously on the site===
We layer on all these rules for multifamily housing, but not the single family home. Why does the most unaffordable kind of new housing have the most supportive policy by default?
- Stuart - Wednesday, May 27, 26 @ 10:11 pm:
Pappas is spot on. What’s the rush…and finally someone is vocal enough to state the obvious…Bears need to stay in Chicago. Kam Buckner is no tax expert. This Bill is being pushed through without proper analysis. Anyone remember Daleys Parking Deal? Thank you Treasurer Pappas for not being late in the game with your expert analysis.
- May soon be required - Thursday, May 28, 26 @ 10:11 am:
==A $10 million a year property tax bill at Arlington would be an increase to the County. and Arlington heights==
Aren’t they paying property taxes in Arlington Heights already?