Downtown Belleville parking garage part of debate over proposed taxing district
Belleville City Council appears poised to create a new downtown taxing district that would require owners of 376 parcels to pay more property taxes to help fund downtown improvement projects, which could include a four-level parking garage.
The taxing district, officially known as Special Service Area 4, would replace another district that was in place for 19 years before being terminated last year, when the city paid off bonds tied to it.
“(Special Service Area 3 bonds were) used primarily to assist with the downtown streetscape improvements and some other improvements,” Eric Schauster, the city’s director of grants and special projects, told aldermen at a public hearing in November.
The district contributed $1.35 million for the streetscape, which cost about $15 million, said Jamie Maitret, the city’s director of finance.
The city would levy about $140,000 a year for Area 4, the same as it did for Area 3, under a plan developed by Belleville Downtown Development Commission, according to Maitret. The commission’s nine members include two elected officials and seven downtown property owners.
“Their whole intent is to keep the taxes at about what they were before,” Maitret said, adding that the property tax rate would be in the vicinity of 1.4% or 1.5% of assessed valuation.
The theory behind both taxing districts has been that downtown businesses and property owners should contribute to downtown projects because they benefit more than other Belleville residents.
The commission voted 5-0 in September to recommend that a new district be created, meeting minutes show. Four members were absent. This week, Chairwoman Mary Stiehl, who also serves as a Ward 6 alderwoman, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
‘We’re moving forward’
Much discussion related to the taxing district has focused on the city’s effort to build a parking garage downtown. That’s because the commission could decide to use Special Service Area 4 bonds to help pay for it.
The district’s maximum bond issue would be $1.5 million, Maitret said, noting that commission members have discussed possibly using half for a garage and half for other projects.
“(If the district is created), the commission would have to make firm decisions on how much are we are bonding up to the $1.5 million and what is it going to go towards,” Maitret said.
Mayor Jenny Gain Meyer supports the idea of building a parking garage. Under the city’s current plan, it would consist of four levels with 200 to 250 spaces on the northeast corner of South High and East Washington streets, behind the former Ben’s store.
Schauster estimates it would cost $7 million to build the garage, which is $1.5 million more than the city’s estimate last year. Officials anticipate that parking would be free.
“I think for continued residential growth downtown, (a garage) is necessary,” Meyer said this week.
Some storefront buildings house retail stores and other businesses at street level, but upper floors are vacant. According to Meyer and Schauster, developers have expressed interest in converting them into living spaces if more parking were available.
Belleville has filed paperwork to obtain $500,000 in grant money for the parking garage that already has been allocated through the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Schauster said.
Department spokeswoman Eliza Glezer didn’t respond to questions about the grant this week.
Belleville City Council has budgeted $1.736 million for the garage in recent years. Meyer also has instructed her administration to explore other funding sources, such as loans and bonds.
“We’re moving forward with it,” Meyer said, noting that the next big step would be requesting bids for architectural and engineering studies that would firm up the cost estimate.
Pushback at hearings
The City Council held a public hearing on the proposed taxing district in November, but a second one had to be held in February because the related ordinance originally contained a clerical error on the maximum tax rate, Maitret said.
At the Feb. 17 hearing, Ahsan Raza, owner of Al-Raza Holdings, questioned the need for a parking garage.
“We have plenty of parking,” he said. “What we don’t have is a reason to build (a garage). So this isn’t a solution. It’s a solution in search of a problem, paid by our money.”
Darla Blecha, owner of Truck Works of Southwest Illinois, objected to the idea of creating a new taxing district without specifying which improvements it would fund.
At the Nov. 3 hearing, Rachel Speichinger, owner of Rachel’s Sidebar, told aldermen that higher taxes could hurt small businesses on the west side of Special Service Area 4 that are struggling.
Like Blecha, Speichinger asked for more information on planned improvement projects to determine if they are equitable for the east and west sides of downtown. Conni Tilley, owner of Venue on Main, also on the west side, had similar concerns.
“If you look at that map, half of the taxation and taxes are actually being generated by the west side also,” Tilley told aldermen. “So if we are just going to be doing projects on the east side ... I just wanted to make sure that it is fair for all of us.”
Cliff Cross, the city’s former director of economic development, planning and zoning, told a committee in 2023 that a developer wanted to convert the Ben’s block into a commercial space with about 25 condos, but only if the city agreed to build a parking garage.
In 2012, a company that Belleville hired to conduct a garage feasibility study released its final report, determining that the best site would be the northeast corner of South High and East Washington, the same one that officials are proposing today.
The report recommended a four-level garage with 214 parking spaces, along with supplemental surface parking elsewhere. It also addressed design and construction materials.
“The proposed new parking garage would be designed to reflect the historic character and styles that line the City streetscape,” the summary stated. “It should fit into the neighborhood context in both overall footprint size and building height.
“Modern construction methods & materials can be used to replicate many of the historic elements and provide the same architectural feel at a more economical price tag.”
