Sycamore city officials inch closer on potential TIF 2 district, reach out to nearby residents

SYCAMORE – Sycamore city officials say they are starting to reach out to residents who would be most affected by the city’s proposed plan to create a new tax increment finance, or TIF, district.

Sycamore acting City Manager Maggie Peck said during the City Council meeting this week the plan remains for members of the Joint Review Board to discuss the proposal at 3 p.m. Nov. 8. She added the City’s public hearing on the matter still is tentatively scheduled for 6 p.m. Nov. 22 within the Sycamore Center on West State Street in the city’s downtown.

Peck said her office started to reach out to nearby residents in the previous week. She said the office sent more than 450 letters and she started receiving calls – seven so far – on Monday.

“So I appreciate residents taking an interest in their community,” Peck said.

The update from Monday’s meeting comes after Sycamore City Council voted, 8-0, during the Oct. 4 meeting to present the plan for the proposed district, known as “TIF 2,″ in November to the DeKalb County Joint Review Board, before the city holds a public hearing later that month.

Peck previously said the proposed TIF 2 district would be located on the north side of town. She has said city officials are looking at areas including North Cross Street, Lucas Street to North Avenue, and crossing one block over on Main Street to Page Street.

The proposed area would more specifically include the Sycamore industrial park on North Cross Street and areas near Italian Dreams Pizza and Pasta and Mark’s Machine Shop on North Main Street. The boundaries also would extend past Nina’s Taco’s on East Page Street.

City officials previously approved to close the first TIF district on Dec. 31, 2021, instead of the originally slated date of Dec. 31, 2024. The City Council gave its go-ahead back in July to conduct a feasibility study for the proposed TIF district.

Per the Illinois TIF Act, municipalities and taxing bodies can create a TIF district over a specified geographic area. At the time the TIF is created, the value of property in the area is established as the “base” amount, and taxes paid on that amount continue to go to taxing bodies as normal.

Over time, as development occurs and property values rise, the city collects the additional property tax revenue created from new development and increased property values, known as increment, which must then be invested back into the area for redevelopment. The money can go toward fixing blighted areas and paying for infrastructure, the costs of jobs related to the TIF district, surveys, environmental reviews needed for development and more.