Aurora sets TIF hearings tied to Hollywood Casino project
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The Aurora City Council Tuesday night established the review board and public hearing for a new tax increment financing district.
The proposed Farnsworth-Bilter TIF District is tied to the Hollywood Casino resort project at Farnsworth Avenue and Bilter Road, next the Interstate 88 interchange.
Aldermen voted 10-1 this week to establish the Joint Review Board - which is made up of all the other taxing bodies in the proposed TIF district - and the public hearing on establishing the district before the City Council.
The lone no vote was from Ald. John Laesch, at large.
The TIF district is contemplated as part of the incentives for the Hollywood Casino resort. The casino plans to move to the location near Interstate 88 from its current site in downtown Aurora.
The Joint Review Board would be set for Nov. 8 in the lower level of the city’s Development Services Building, at Broadway and Benton Street. The public hearing would be before the City Council at its Dec. 12 meeting at City Hall.
The reason establishing the TIF district needs two ordinances is because it would amend TIF District 7, which expires soon, and establish the new Farnsworth-Bilter TIF District.
The current TIF District 7 runs from Farnsworth Avenue and Bilter Road along Interstate 88 to Mitchell Road.
The new Farnsworth-Bilter TIF District would be a micro-TIF, carved out of property at Farnsworth and Bilter. It includes three lots the city owns and is deeding to the casino along Farnsworth, as well as the former Gaslight Manor property and a chapel property next door. The casino would ultimately own all that land for the project.
Earlier this month, the city officially announced its intention to amend TIF District 7 and establish the Farnsworth-Bilter TIF District.
The casino resort development would include a casino with about 900 slot machines and 50 live table games - including a baccarat room and a poker room - a Barstool Sportsbook, a 220-room hotel, a full-service spa, several bars and restaurants, about a 10,000-square-foot event center and an open, outside entertainment area.
The location will feature 1,600 parking spaces, both at street level and in a parking garage, with the potential of adding another 500 spaces if needed, casino officials have said.
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. The city would plan to pass $58 million in general obligation bonds for that money.
The payback would be done through the Farnsworth-Bilter TIF District. It would be tied to the bond payments. City officials have estimated that the land will generate about $5.25 million in property taxes a year, which would make the bond payments.
If the TIF district does not generate enough to make the bond payments, Penn Entertainment would make up the difference, according to the agreement.
Chris Minick, the city’s chief financial officer, in an answer to a question from Laesch, said the estimate of $5.25 million is just that, because it depends on the assessed value of the property over time.
But he said it is “probably not out of line” to say the increment could generate as much as $120 million over the 23-year life of the TIF district.
