Joining New Trier, Sunset Ridge D29 takes stand against Village’s TIF plan

In the early stages of consideration, and far from a sure thing, a Northfield TIF district has a growing list of opponents.

A potential surplus of new students and lack of transparency top the Sunset Ridge District 29 School Board’s concerns of a potential TIF, leading the board on June 9 to unanimously support a resolution to formally oppose the village’s proposed TIF plan.

While TIF districts do not directly take funds away from school districts, they recycle property-tax growth within the district. District 29 officials said this inherently impacts local schools, which would benefit from the increasing property tax dollars..

“The messaging (of the TIF district) I would just say is pretty misleading,” Board President Holt Zeidler said. “So you can’t say that there’s no impact on schools. That just seems like a pretty profound misleading statement there. So I’m in favor of opposing this.”

The resolution urges the village to explore alternative economic development strategies, provide additional financial analysis of Northfield’s downtown area and communicate with the school about the status of the proposal.

As The Record previously reported, Consultants presented the idea of a TIF district to the Village Board in April, offering it as an option to boost economic growth in the downtown area.

During that meeting, School Board member and resident Jennifer Damon asked that the village be “proactive in involving the school districts” in the TIF conversation.

New Trier High School officials also came out against the TIF plan during their May meeting, arguing that a Northfield TIF would likely push higher taxes onto surrounding communities.

Also in May, the Northfield Village Board approved a four-story, 92-unit residential building that would be located within the proposed TIF district, as previously reported by The Record. 

District 29 Superintendent Edward Stange said the building would bring new students into the school, leading to additional costs.

“The TIF would possibly mean more students in our district and we would not be able to recoup the per pupil expenditure potentially that those kids … (from) that apartment building would bring to our district,” Stange said. 

School Board member Sam Tideman expressed concern for more potential housing units within the TIF district, which typically are active for 23 years. 

“Who knows what could happen in 23 years, right?” Tideman said. “We know about the 92-unit building now … but how many other housing developments could come in the next 23 years? And every one of those could bring more students without commensurate revenue for the schools.”

Tideman added that he believed there would be a developer demand to build in Northfield, regardless if a TIF district is enacted in the village.

Village officials have estimated a decision on the potential TIF district will come in September. In the meantime, District 29 intends to compose a joint review board to stay involved in the village’s TIF planning. 

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