New STAR bonds bill limits the type of businesses eligible for revenue

BY WILL BUSS - News-Democrat

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A new bill that is being drafted in Springfield and will be presented to Illinois lawmakers in January revises and restricts those developments that would be eligible for sales tax revenue bonds.

The bill would create STAR bonds in Illinois and pave the way for a proposed $1 billion development called University Town Center in Glen Carbon. University Town Center spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch said the new legislation is a compromise after several recent negotiations among state lawmakers, the governor's office, metro-east mayors and others. An original bill introduced in March was amended and adopted by both the House and Senate before Gov. Pat Quinn issued an amendatory veto on Aug. 28.

Rausch said the latest legislation, called a "trailer bill" because it follows legislation introduced earlier in the year, only allows narrowly defined destination and entertainment tenants to use STAR bonds. Tenants located within a STAR bond district that do not meet the destination or entertainment definition would not be eligible for the state's portion of sales taxes issued for STAR bonds. Retailers would be ineligible under the new bill.

Also, the bill creates a Community Improvement Fund that would capture 15 percent of the incremental property taxes generated within the STAR bond district and redistribute that money to neighboring communities within a 10-mile radius. Those eligible communities are Fairview Heights, O'Fallon, Edwardsville, Collinsville, Alton, East Alton, Bethalto, Brooklyn, Caseyville, Centreville, East St. Louis, Fairmont City, Granite City, Hartford, Madison, Maryville, Pontoon Beach, Roxana, South Roxana, Troy, Venice, Wood River and Washington Park.

For more on the story, read the News-Democrat Saturday or go to www.bnd.com.

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