SPRINGFIELD – In a last-minute bid to keep the Chicago Bears in Illinois, lawmakers are calling an audible.
Two sources close to negotiations confirmed that legislation is being crafted that would enable certain local governments to set up their own stadium authorities — a mechanism that would allow the Bears to escape paying property taxes altogether.
Sen. Bill Cunningham, D-Chicago, the lead Senate negotiator on the stadium issue, told reporters Sunday evening that the legislation will allow Cook County municipalities with more than 70,000 people to create an authority. This would put Chicago “on an equal plane” with Arlington Heights to compete for a stadium deal.
“They’d have to enter into a lease agreement, a public use agreement, a public benefit agreement, and then the locality would own the stadium,” Cunningham said, noting that it is “a model that is used around the country” and at Soldier Field.
Top lawmakers had to pivot after a megaprojects bill that would have allowed the team to negotiate and lock in a lower property tax payment with local governments for up to 40 years collapsed in the waning hours of the spring legislative session.
Cunningham told reporters Saturday evening that the bill did not have enough support to pass the chamber. That was mainly due to discomfort with the large tax breaks the PILOT would allow as well as the desire from Chicago members to give the city a chance to retain the team.
In theory, this new bill would allow Chicago to put together a proposal that would offer the Bears the same level of real estate tax certainty they would receive at the 326-acre site they own in Arlington Heights.
The Bears have said they are only focused on a privately-owned stadium in Arlington Heights or a publicly owned stadium site near Wolf Lake in Hammond, Indiana. But Cunningham told reporters that “the Bears have met repeatedly with the City of Chicago over the last several months to talk about” potentially staying in the city.
It is not immediately clear if the parameters of the new proposal would be acceptable to the Bears, who did not immediately return a request for comment over the weekend. Though Cunningham said the team has been briefed on the late play in Springfield.
The deal would be closer to the structure of Indiana’s, which calls for more than $1 billion in public subsidies to build a publicly owned stadium. The Bears would keep all revenue generated by the building and have the option to buy it for $1 once bonds are paid off.
Under the new Illinois proposal, a stadium would be owned by the public but financed privately. The Bears have committed $2 billion to stadium construction in both Arlington Heights and Hammond. Cunningham said the stadium district — and accompanying property tax exemption — would only apply to the stadium structure and not to a surrounding mixed-use stadium district.
It’s also unclear if the idea would have support in the legislature given that the proposal would likely result in even greater savings for the Bears than under the PILOT tool.
But it could win over crucial votes in the Chicago delegation if it gives the city a shot to keep the team. The Bears have played their home games in city limits for more than 100 years.
Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, the lead House negotiator on the megaprojects bill, told reporters Sunday morning that he didn’t “know the specifics yet, but we’re looking forward to seeing them.”
“I think if people can see that a plan like this is narrowly tailored, but also, as Sen. Cunningham said, it gives the ability for the city of Chicago to have a part to play in this as well, then there could be some support,” Buckner said.
Check back for updates.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
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