Anthem's First Property Tax Hike? |
The first speaker during the public comment section of the Board of Trustees meeting held on May 24, 2016 announced that the Anthem Memory Care facility would generate between $300,000 to $400,000 in property tax revenue. Then again, he also said the bus depot was surrounded by a barbed wire cyclone fence. Wire, yes. Barbed wire - not so much, but nice dramatic embellishment for the viewing audience.
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Flashback to April 19, 2016...
During that meeting Mayor Bury offered this estimate for the property tax revenue that will be generated by the proposed facility. Her estimation and explanation can be heard around the 1:19:25 mark of the audio recording posted on YouTube.
(Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS-529I80NE&feature=youtu.be)
(Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS-529I80NE&feature=youtu.be)
Onto May 16, 2016...
During the Planning and Development Commission meeting, the property tax revenue expected to be generated was stated to again be around $300,000 - again without providing a factual source.
And finally May 24, 2016...
Eight days later that figure has grown to be somewhere between $300,000-$400,000 - yet again without providing a factual source.
Source of these Estimates?
An attempt to obtain documentation validating the original estimate provided by Mayor Bury was made by filing a FOIA request with the Village of Oak Lawn. The completed FOIA request shown below reports that no such documents exist, so it is quite possible that the estimated property tax revenue figure provided by Mayor Bury may not be factual or accurate.
What was Gained by Selling Out the Neighborhood?
Based upon the tax rates for that area, the village share of $300,000 is $33,570 and for $400,000 it would be $44,760. Those figures work out to an extra 59 cents to 79 cents to spend annually on each of the 56,690 residents (per the 2010 census figures) of the Village of Oak Lawn.
That property tax revenue amount is what the village officials sold out a residential neighborhood for to place a commercial facility there, making millions in profit for Anthem Memory Care and their financial partners in the process.
Meanwhile, other businesses are getting tax breaks/incentives to operate in commercially-zoned business districts. While this is not an uncommon or illegal practice, it just seems wrong when you add it all up and watch the village struggle to pay their bills.
Village officials let an out-of-state business come in and dictate where they wanted to operate within the village. Then those same village officials approved a special use permit and additional variances to allow it all to happen despite protests from the tax-paying residents that elected them into office.
That property tax revenue amount is what the village officials sold out a residential neighborhood for to place a commercial facility there, making millions in profit for Anthem Memory Care and their financial partners in the process.
Meanwhile, other businesses are getting tax breaks/incentives to operate in commercially-zoned business districts. While this is not an uncommon or illegal practice, it just seems wrong when you add it all up and watch the village struggle to pay their bills.
Village officials let an out-of-state business come in and dictate where they wanted to operate within the village. Then those same village officials approved a special use permit and additional variances to allow it all to happen despite protests from the tax-paying residents that elected them into office.