Council makes first move to create new TIF in Fairview Heights

The Fairview Heights City Council took the first steps Tuesday night to establish a new Tax Increment Finance district in town to help bring more business to a shopping center and spark adjacent development.

The council approved a resolution to accept an eligibility study for TIF District 5. The council also approved another resolution calling for a redevelopment plan for the proposed TIF and a third resolution authorizing Mayor Mark Kupsky to enter into an agreement with Kuhlmann Design Group Inc. to revise the legal description for the TIF.

The proposed 115-acre area is located within a portion of the Fairview Heights Plaza, located on both sides of Ludwig Drive, as well as 72 acres of undeveloped land located north and behind the shopping center.

City economic development director Mike Malloy said the new TIF district will address the high vacancy rate within the shopping center and attract further development nearby. He said the shopping center has had about a 40 percent vacancy rate and in order to develop the adjacent 72-acre property, the city must also resolve the mine subsidence in the that area.

“One of the things we want to do is work with the owner of the Fairview Heights Plaza and see if we can shore up that shopping center,” Malloy said. “The 72 acres is vacant, but the mine subsidence is a major issue. We’ve also got utility issues in terms of actually providing utilities directly to or abutting the property. So there is a considerable amount of utility extensions that have to be made as well.”

Malloy said the redevelopment plan is expected to go before the city’s Community Committee on Dec. 16, and the council could vote on the plan by Jan. 5.

The TIF would then have to be approved by a joint review board that would include all of the city’s taxing districts within the proposed TIF.

Malloy said the joint review board is anticipated to be created by Jan. 19 and would be followed by public notice proceedings, which would call the joint review board together to discuss the funding of the TIF as it relates to the taxing districts before it can be finalized.

Malloy said if these checkpoints are cleared within this time frame, he anticipates the TIF could be created by April 19.

This story was originally published December 1, 2015 at 2:08 PM with the headline "Council makes first move to create new TIF in Fairview Heights."