East Peoria is moving forward with the process at least several months in the making to create a new tax-increment financing (TIF) district along its riverfront surrounding the Par-A-Dice Hotel and Casino.
The move comes as the city of Peoria is openly courting Boyd Gaming on building a new land-based casino across the river after the company announced plans to expand to the Illinois Gaming Board.
The Illinois Gaming Act and a 1991 intergovernmental agreement between the two cities both require the casino to be located in Peoria if the gaming operator decides to abandon its riverboat for land. Currently, the local share of gaming revenues are split 50/50 between Peoria and East Peoria.
City planning and development director Ty Livingston noted that Par-A-Dice wouldn't be the only entity standing to benefit, however.
"The focus of the the TIF district is this entire district, this entire area. So there are properties that are on either side of the Par-A-Dice that are certainly would benefit from the redevelopment," Livingston said. "So it is something that we're looking at the area in its entirety."
A tax-increment financing district is an economic development tool used by local governments. The tax increment is the new taxable property value created by improvements within the district's boundaries.
"It's using that property tax to reinvest in that specific area of the city, to help it develop and come along where it hadn't been able to do that," said city attorney Scott Brunton.
Taxing bodies still get the revenue based off the property values that are frozen at the time of the TIF district's establishment, but the new tax increment generated can be redirected into additional projects within the TIF District. For instance, developers can be reimbursed for certain expenditures they make on improvements to properties.
The districts can be established for up to 23 years initially, and extended for another 13.
The city currently has three TIF districts: Camp Street, the West Washington Street TIF encompassing the Levee District, and EastPort Marina.
The East Peoria Riverfront TIF District would stretch along the northwestern stretch of Illinois Route 116 running roughly from Interstate 74 to Access Road 4, stopping just short of a mini-storage business lying opposite Highview Road.
The properties covered include not only the casino, but also Federal Logistics, Hagerty Steel, United Facilities, and the former Burger Barge restaurant. A vacant stretch of land south of Bass Pro Shops would also be folded into the new TIF District.
Livingston said the city is closely eyeing more commercial and mixed use developments for this area.
"We've got a great location here. You've got riverfront views, and so there's certainly opportunities for that mixed use development to happen here," he said, noting that the area around the former Burger Barge in particular would be ideal for one or two story condominiums.
A new road into the development area would start from Bass Pro Drive. That road would need to cross over Farm Creek to reach the new development area.
"The primary connector would be a connection that would take Bass Pro over to Main Street to likely a new signalized intersection," Livingston said. "That's obviously something we'd have to work through with the Illinois Department of Transportation."
The Bass Pro connector road would also provide a new link to Altorfer Lane as it passes under I-74. The Livingston said the frontage road near the old burger restaurant could also be extended up to Access Road 4 to further distribute traffic. A new leg of the long-envisioned bridge to bridge multi-use trail loop could also be a component of the new infrastructure.
Livingston said the predicted increase in estimated assessed values for properties within the TIF district is $50 million.
Flooding is one major factor that would have to be addressed if the area is to see more usage. An assessment from Fehr Graham Engineering and Environmental indicates 97% of the area is currently prone to some level of flooding. At least 50% of the TIF area has experienced chronic flooding over the past 10 years.
Planning documents argue flooding mitigation would be prohibitively expensive to install for private enterprise without public assistance. Some of the measures that could be used include retaining walls and raising redeveloped areas out of the flood plain.
The proposal was heard before the Joint Review Board of the city's other taxing bodies in December. The next steps after Tuesday's public hearing are the first reading of a TIF ordinance before the city council on Feb. 18, and a second reading on March 4.
