Harwood Heights moving ahead with TIF exploration

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Updated: December 18, 2011 8:48AM

Harwood Heights Mayor Arlene Jezierny cast the tie-breaking vote that clears the way towards the next phase of exploring the creation of a tax increment financing district in the village.

The board voted 4-3 as Jezierny cast the tie-breaking vote after trustees Larry Steiner, Michael Gadzinski and Therese Schuepfer voted for the proposal while trustees Lester Szlendak, Demetrios Mougolias and Mark Dobrzycki voted against.

The vote approved a TIF Phase Two agreement between the village and Kane McKenna & Associates in an amount not to exceed $25,000 for completion of a redevelopment plan.

Mougolias said during the committee of the whole meeting held before the board meeting, “Everybody here knows I’m not a big proponent of a TIF. I spoke to a lot of the taxing bodies who are also not in favor but that doesn’t mean they won’t be. To me, we’re rushing to do this.”

Jezierny said information has been shared with the taxing bodies.

“This next phase doesn’t say we’re going to do a TIF,” Jezierny said. “We’re going to find out more about the financial part of it.”

Village Attorney Robert Bush told Mougolias “You said for us to talk to the taxing bodies and we did that. This informational process began four or five months ago. It’s disingenuous to suggest the taxing bodies don’t have enough information and that it’s being done in a quick manner.”

Schuepfer said she could appreciate Mougolias’ opinion but that Harwood Heights needs to be more aggressive.

“If we’re talking about infrastructure, we’re talking about jobs,” Schuepfer said. “So many of our residents are tied to construction. At some point we have to have a spine.”

Schuepfer went on to say, “I don’t think any of us are educated enough (on the TIF) to talk to people about the TIF and that’s why we need Kane McKenna.”

Dobrzycki said he’s spoken to people who are not in favor of a TIF.

Bush told the board that unless they have a redevelopment plan, they wouldn’t get any more information than they already have.

“There is nothing more to tell you about a TIF in Harwood Heights. But if you want to consider what financial instruments will be available, then you have to have Kane McKenna move forward (with creating a redevelopment plan),” he said.