Community Corner

Cheat Sheet: A Guide to the District 300, Sears EDA Battle

Patch looks at who and what the key points are in the proposal to keep Sears in Illinois.

Updated Nov. 10 at 4 p.m.

Lawmakers have just one more day left in the legislative veto session, and the fate of the Sears economic development area could be decided on any minute. The situation changes with every hour, so Patch put together a guide on the key points in the Sears EDA issue. Feel free to add suggested key players in the comments section below if you feel like we missed anything.

Sears economic development area — In 1989, as a way to keep Sears in Illinois, lawmakers adopted a resolution that would provide massive tax breaks to the company to expand its national headquarters in Hoffman Estates. The area is located in the southeastern corner of District 300's taxing boundaries. The tax breaks for the Sears economic development area are set to expire in 2012.

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District 300 — Based in Carpentersville, the district is the sixth largest in the state and spans across four counties and 15 municipalities. There are an estimated 21,000 students in the school district. School administrators estimate that the Sears EDA generates $17 million per year in District 300 property taxes. Under the EDA agreement, only $2.9 million goes back to the school district. District officials have said that District 300 receives $1,500 less than the state average each year per child.

Sears — The company’s headquarters are in Hoffman Estates and in the southeastern corner of District 300's taxing boundaries. In recent weeks, Sears has been considering relocating to states such as Texas and Ohio, saying that it will reach a decision before the end of the year. Sears' senior vice president and general counsel, Dane Drobny, said the company has recouped just $75 million of the $200 million it originally invested in local infrastructure since the early 1990s, according to an article in the Northwest Herald. Sears is asking for a 15-year extension to the economic development area tax breaks, set to expire in 2012, so that it can recover the $125 million remaining.

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Amendment 3 of Senate Bill 540 — For months, . The amendment would extend the Sears economic development area tax breaks an additional 15 years.

Amendment 2 of Senate Bill 397 — Filed on Monday, Nov. 7, by House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, D-Chicago. The legislation, tied into tax breaks for the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, would extend the Sears deal with Hoffman Estates an additional 15 years and would provide District 300 $89 million from 2013 to 2028. If the agreement (Amendment 3 of Senate Bill 540) were to be extended, the school district would receive only $43.5 million over the same time period. It does not include the job-creation credits Sears wanted, but it does include a provision that would penalize Sears if the company leaves Illinois before 2018, according to an article in the Daily Herald.

Amendment 4 of House Bill 1883 — Filed late Tuesday evening by Kotowski and state Sen. Senator Toi W. Hutchinson, a Chicago Heights Democrat, it is nearly identical to Amendment 2 of Senate Bill 397, except that it requires an economic development area audit.

Amendment 5 of House Bill 1883 —  Filed by state Sen. Michael Noland, D-Elgin. It would essentially delete all the language regarding the EDA from the bill’s fourth amendment, according to an article in the Courier-News.

Veto session — Scheduled to conclude Thursday, Nov. 10. The session could be extended; however, Sears officials have said that they will decide by year’s end whether to relocate the company's headquarters.

Michael Bregy — District 300 superintendent.

Allison Strupeck — Spokeswoman for District 300.

Hoffman Estates — Administers the diverted tax funds. Hoffman Estates reimburses Sears for the money the national retailer invested into developing the corporate campus and the village collects an annual fee of $5 million per year to administer the economic development area funds.

William McLeod —Mayor of Hoffman Estates.

$14 million — The amount of money that District 300 has said Sears tax breaks divert in property taxes from the district to the economic development area each year.

Durham School Services — District 300's bus transportation provider. It covered the bus drivers’ pay to transport students and staff to and from Springfield in recent weeks.

Aramark — District 300's food vendor, has been donating sack lunches for the field trips taken to Springfield in recent weeks.


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