The standing-room-only crowd spilled into the adjacent hallway, as well as the seats usually used by City Council members. According to one of those members, such a presence would be welcome at regular City Council meetings — and perhaps forthcoming special ones.

The hearing Monday was intended to elicit residents’ opinions regarding the proposed 672-acre TIF district. An earlier, informal public meeting led to the proposed TIF district’s name.

The City Council has until April 23 to decide whether to approve the district’s creation, according to Mike Hoffman, vice president of a Chicago-area community planning and landscape architecture firm. He conducted the hearing Monday.

In TIF districts, property taxes that are to go to various bodies are frozen. Subsequent tax increases are diverted into a fund that can be used for infrastructure improvements that lead to area redevelopment.

According to Hoffman, goals for the South Village TIF district are to create a safe, vibrant and attractive neighborhood and to capitalize on retail and commercial potential along Adams Street and Western Avenue. A focus will be developing properties on vacant lots, which make up about a quarter of the land in the proposed district.

“If we take a vacant lot and build a building on it, that does create a sizable increase in the value of the land,” Hoffman said.

The equalized assessed valuation of the proposed district is about $19.7 million, Hoffman said. Upon completion of redevelopment, that is expected to climb to more than $70 million.

South Peoria residents who spoke publicly during the hearing focused more on the area’s potential climb from blight than on TIF details. | Full Article