Carl Franco, 5th Ward, pointed out that in a TIF district, the base valuation of the property is frozen at the time the TIF district is established, meaning all taxing bodies will continue to receive the tax money they have received in the past. “The TIF money is being siphoned away from other taxing bodies.”Īld. “This is a multi-billion-dollar company that can afford it,” he said. Laesch has opposed both the city’s helping Penn Entertainment, which he said is a multi-billion-dollar company, and using a TIF district. If the TIF district does not generate enough to make the bond payments, Penn Entertainment would make up the difference, according to the agreement. City officials have estimated that the land will generate about $5.5 million in property taxes a year, which would make the bond payments. The payback would be done through a tax increment financing district on the casino property which would be tied to the bond payments. The city would plan to pass $58 million in general obligation bonds for that money. The city and Penn Entertainment have a redevelopment agreement that has the city giving the land and donating $50 million to the casino, which it will pay back. Laesch was an opponent before he was an alderman, not as much to the project itself or the relocation, but to the city’s part in incentivizing the project.

John Laesch, at large, a longtime opponent of the casino project. That was not the opinion of the lone City Council member to vote against the plans, Ald. “The economic impact makes the new casino project a no-brainer to support.” “This project is not a financial obligation,” said Brian Dahl, president of the Fox Valley Building Trades.

That was the belief of members of the building trades, who showed up at this week’s City Council meeting to support the new casino project.

We’re trying to advance the economic course of our citizenry.” “It was no small feat, to compile the properties. “The original idea to move the casino did not come from the casino, it came from the city of Aurora,” Saville said. Aurora then lobbied Penn Entertainment, Hollywood’s parent company, to move off the Fox River to the Farnsworth location. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)ĭuring Mayor Richard Irvin’s administration, the city successfully lobbied the General Assembly to pass a bill allowing casinos to move from spots along rivers where they were originally located. Hollywood Casino plans to move from its current location in downtown Aurora to a site near Interstate 88 in the city.

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