ECC weighs in on EDA bills; D300, HE, Sears finally meet

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Updated: December 18, 2011 5:24PM

It came as no surprise that representatives of Community Unit School District 300 appeared at Wednesday’s House Revenue & Finance Committee meeting at the State Capitol in Springfield.

During the veto session that ended last week, administrators, parents and students had testified several times against legislation that would extend the economic development area around Sears Holdings Corp.’s headquarters in Hoffman Estates.

What was surprising was that the Carpentersville-area school district was joined for the first time by another area school district: Elgin Community College District 509.

ECC Comptroller Heather Scholl testified Wednesday about an amendment to Senate Bill 397.

“It is the college’s position that it is important to consider both the taxing districts and Sears” and the business owners within the EDA “when developing a plan for the future,” Scholl said, according to prepared remarks provided by the college.

“Therefore, Elgin Community College supports any reasonable solution that addresses the financial issues identified by the taxing districts and also retains Sears as a valued business in our community.”

But even more surprising, District 300 Superintendent Michael Bregy said, was, during that committee meeting, the Carpentersville-area school district finally got the meeting with both Sears and Hoffman Estates it has requested for months.

“This was the first time that all three entities have been at the same table to negotiate,” Bregy said. “That was surprising today because I had heard reports that Hoffman Estates was not going to be present at the meeting. I was pleasantly surprised they were there. And we had a productive conversation on the issue.”

District 300, which is part of the community college district, vocally has opposed any legislation to extend the EDA, which the district says would divert about $14 million in property taxes from the district to the area each year.

During the committee meeting, Scholl admitted the percentage of property taxes collected by the community college that are affected by the EDA is “substantially lower than others,” Scholl admitted. ECC currently gets about $259,000 each year from that area, she said. That number would jump to about $2 million if the EDA were allowed to expire in 2012, she added.

That additional $1.7 million would translate to about $9 per credit hour in tuition at the community college, the comptroller said. That’s about how much its board of trustees recently voted to raise tuition — from $91 to $99 per credit hour — starting summer 2011.

No committee action was taken during Wednesday’s meeting, according to House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie. An amendment to Senate Bill 397 filed by Currie last week would give tax breaks not only to Sears but also to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and other businesses to keep them in Illinois.

The deadline to vote on that bill, one of three that includes amendments to extend the EDA in Hoffman Estates, has been extended to Nov. 30, according to the Illinois General Assembly website.

The House Revenue & Finance Committee is expected to meet again Friday and then Monday, Nov. 28, before lawmakers reconvene the following day in a special session, the website said. Bregy said District 300 also plans to meet again with Sears and Hoffman Estates Friday.