STAR bonds don't add up

E-Mail

Print Reprint or license

Text Size:

tool goes here

When developers unveiled plans for the 900-acre University Town Center in Glen Carbon and asked the state to create STAR bonds to finance it, they predicted the development would generate millions of dollars in state and local tax dollars.

But the Illinois Department of Revenue says state and local governments could lose money on this project -- up to $267 million over 20 years. That's because 100 percent of taxes generated by so-called destination projects like the rumored Legoland would be diverted to pay for them -- an estimated $1 billion to $1.3 billion -- and sales would be siphoned away from surrounding areas.

No wonder metro-east mayors oppose the STAR bonds legislation. Illinois doesn't need another bad equation that relates to tax dollars.

Rebecca Rausch, the University Town Center spokeswoman, said she couldn't comment on the numbers because she didn't know where the Department of Revenue started to conduct its analysis.

Well, it started with the developers' own economic impact study and its estimates of what percentage of sales would be new, and what percentage would be siphoned away from existing area stores.

Gov. Pat Quinn wanted the STAR bonds limited to no more than half the cost of the project to avoid this kind of costly scenario.

We're all for new development, especially a unique destination development like Legoland, but not if the numbers don't work.

Comments

Commenting allows our readers to share information, insights and observations about the news stories on our site. We encourage lively, thoughtful discussion, but ask you to refrain from abusive, racist or profane comments. Do not attack other posters for their viewpoints, race, gender or sexual orientation. Do not include URLs; we are unable to verify links. We do not monitor each and every posting, but reserve the right to delete comments that violate these rules. Notify us of violations by hitting the "Report Abuse" button. Repeat or flagrant offenders will lose their commenting privileges, at our discretion.