A Tale of Two Proposals: Kaneland's Night of Discussions on KIPLA Expansion and Crown TIF
Sunday, February 4, 2024
Sugar Grove, Illinois — In a meeting that spanned nearly four hours on January 29th, the Kaneland School Board was the stage for a series of passionate discussions and confrontations. The two hot topics on the agenda were the future of the Kaneland IgKnight Personalized Learning Academy (KIPLA) and a proposed Tax Increment Financing (TIF) project for the Village of Sugar Grove (VSG) and Crown Community Development's (CCD) ambitious plan to transform 760 acres of farmland into a sprawling 3.5 million square feet logistics hub.
The evening began on a positive note with a robust show of support for KIPLA. Faculty, parents, and students alike advocated for the extension of this personalized learning program into the 9th grade. Armed with a detailed presentation, they laid out the costs and benefits, demonstrating not just the program's impact but its potential. The board's engagement was notably amicable, highlighting the community's commitment to innovative education solutions and a willingness to navigate the waters of how they might finance the extension.
Contrastingly, the discussion surrounding the proposed TIF district took a contentious turn. For background, approximately 70% of tax revenue from the CCD properties goes to the school district. The school district, during the TIF's Joint Review Board (JRB) meeting has the ability to vote 'no' on the development, which, if joined by a majority of the other 14 taxing bodies affected, would require VSG to have to approve the project with a 3/5ths vote, rather than a simple majority.
VSG President Jen Konen and Administrator Scott Koeppel faced a barrage of questions from the school board. Board member Aaron McCauley inquired about how the school district would benefit from this project. All VSG could point to were impact fees, increased Equalized Assessed Value (EAV), and potentially surplusing the TIF. Konen said they were "still trying to figure [the impact fees] out." Increased tax revenue from increased EAV would only take effect after the 23+ year TIF expires. Surplusing the TIF districts is possible, as evidenced by the other TIF districts in VSG. However, the other districts have arguably been unsuccessful in their objective to promote development, as projects in those districts have been relatively limited. It raises the question of why the creation of these TIF districts and surplusing them was necessary in the first place, if those funds would have gone to the taxing bodies either via the normal taxation process or via surplusing the TIFs. McCauley also asked about safety on Route 47. Konen did her best to address safety concerns, but the gist was that the responsibility for safety improvements falls on the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), rather than VSG.
Konen also suggested the school board receives most of their TIF information from social media, a claim which was deemed presumptuous by board member Bob Mankivsky. Mankivsky asked if VSG had done their due diligence in regards to researching the warehouse districts in Aurora and Naperville along Interstate 88. Konen, despite mentioning that she frequently travels on 88, was not too familiar with those developments. She admitted she was not sure how the warehouses in question were financed; Mankivsky promptly filled her in that they were not financed with TIFs. Konen inquired if there was existing infrastructure for those warehouses, to which Mankivsky responded that those warehouses had to build out the infrastructure out of their own pockets, challenging the "but for" requirement regarding TIFs. In other words, to approve a TIF, it must be shown that development would not occur "but for" the implementation of TIF incentives.
Despite Konen's strong advocacy for the project in the past, she claimed they "weren't here to defend it." She also suggested it was very clear the school board was not happy with the project, a statement Mankivsky also found presumptuous. Towards the end of the discussion, Mankivsky concisely summed up his feelings:
What I'm hearing: we don't get the money for 23 years. During the meantime, we have students we have to educate, we have doors we have to keep open, we have students who need the education. We're going to add onto, who knows what type of residential you're going to go with. There's just been a lack of transparency on the part of Sugar Grove and leadership. No, don't give me that look. There's been a lack of transparency and a lack of preparedness — for heaven's sake, we know the warehouse districts in Naperville and Aurora and your district, oh it's going to be something different. They did it without a TIF.
VSG officials were the only ones who spoke in favor of the project, though several opponents voiced their concerns during the public comment portion of the meeting. Among the dissenters, Amy Maher, a Sugar Grove resident and a Kindergarten teacher in Dekalb, stood out, garnering a standing ovation for her compelling testimony. She highlighted the danger on the 47/88 interchange she uses every day on her way to work to teach at a school surrounded by warehouses. Maher brought up some of the adverse effects of warehouses on her students and their families, including pollution from diesel exhaust, noise-induced sleep disruption, and the instability of warehouse employment due to high turnover and automation risks. She emphasized financial strain on educators and school districts, which would only be exacerbated by the proposed TIF. Lastly, Maher addressed the safety of students by bringing up a 2019 statement by Konen, who then said that she does not want her kids killed in a school bus accident on Route 47. Maher argued that if these risks were unacceptable to Konen then, they should remain so today.
Chief Brendan Moran of the Sugar Grove Fire Protection District discussed the significant financial strain caused by the four TIF districts that currently apply to his fire district. He asked for the school board's support to push back against the proposed Sugar Grove TIF district, which he considers to be a huge impact, and ultimately, a detriment to his district's ability to provide proper safety services. As an example, Moran brought up a particular building that only has to pay ~$80 in taxes annually to the fire district due to a TIF; without a TIF, the district would receive ~$7,700 from that same building. Based on his 18 years of tenure with the district, he believes the village boards of Sugar Grove and Montgomery consider impact fees to be a "dirty word." For instance, his district receives a mere ~$137 from Settler's Ridge each time a building is constructed there. According to Moran, it is a "nonstarter" for the village boards to discuss any additional impact fees and the one-time fees they currently receive are insignificant when considering the increased burden on his district over the long haul. Moran lamented the inability of fire districts to recoup costs through impact fees as part of the TIF process, unlike school districts, underscoring the challenge of funding essential expansions in vehicles, personnel, and equipment to serve a growing population effectively.