Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009

New STAR bonds bill to be introduced next session

Lawmakers negotiating over a bill that would create a new funding option in Illinois and pave the way for a $1 billion development in the metro-east have come up with a new bill two months after Gov. Pat Quinn's amendatory veto of the previous bill.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Tom Holbrook, D-Belleville, said that after meeting and negotiating with other state legislators Wednesday and Thursday, a new bill has been drawn up that would create sales tax and revenue, or STAR, bonds as a another funding resource for developers in the Land of Lincoln. But Holbrook would not reveal the details.

However, he said the new bill will not be introduced during the veto session, which concludes Friday. Rather, the new bill will eventually be released to metro-east municipalities to get feedback. Then, the bill will be introduced in the next session.

"I think it is in the best interest of all parties involved that rather than passing this today or tomorrow, or rush to vote on this, we will bring that back and let the local mayors, local government take a look at it," Holbrook said Thursday. "I won't be calling the bill right now so anyone can look at the proposed bill and any legislators can take that out to their representatives' municipalities and local representatives, and local governments so we can see what they say about it."

STAR bonds use new local and state sales tax revenues to pay for public infrastructure costs that are repaid entirely from sales tax and transient guest tax revenues generated within that district.

If approved, STAR bonds would open the gate for a proposed 900-acre retail and entertainment center in Glen Carbon called University Town Center that would be bordered by Interstate 270, Interstate 255, Illinois 157 and Illinois 162. Bruce Holland, who is president and chief executive officer of Holland Construction Services in Swansea and managing partner of University Town Center, unveiled the project in March. The development would be the first to use STAR bonds in the state.

Glen Carbon Mayor Rob Jackstadt has said that he has met with representatives from Legoland amusement park, but would not say if it is in relation to the proposed entertainment and retail development.

The Glen Carbon project has been advertised as one that would create more than 10,000 construction jobs and 3,100 permanent, full-time jobs, then inject $1.5 billion into local economies and initially add $15.5 million in state income taxes and $16 million in property taxes.

Holbrook and Sen. James Clayborne, D-Belleville, initially rolled out the legislation during the spring. The bill was sent to Gov. Pat Quinn's office on June 30. Quinn issued an amendatory veto on Aug. 28 and noted that the measure would have allowed a developer to use 100 percent of local and state sales tax revenue generated by the project to pay for its costs. Quinn had argued for developers to receive only a 50 percent share.

Rebecca Rausch, a spokeswoman for the University Town Center group, said that meetings over the past two days with the Illinois Department of Revenue as well as fellow metro-east lawmakers Rep. Jay Hoffman, D-Collinsville, and Sen. Bill Haine, D-Alton, reached a "middle ground" Thursday with a "highly technical bill" that strikes a balance between all interested parties.

"It takes into account all of the different interests that go into this kind of issue," Rausch said. "So we need to make sure the draft reflects each and everyone's intent. I'm cautiously optimistic it will."

Neither Hoffman nor Haine could be reached for comment Thursday.

Contact reporter Will Buss at wbuss@bnd.com or 239-2526..