EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Gov. JB Pritzker told Capitol News Illinois this week that he likes Illinois’ odds to keep the Chicago Bears while pitching property tax legislation long sought by the team as a crucial tool for economic development across the state.
KEY QUOTE: “I think the Bears had not set themselves up well for getting something done. And so, we’ve tried to help them along in this session, and I believe that we’re going to be successful. And the Bears seem to like what’s being put forward.”
DA BEARS: Pritzker’s approach to the Bears’ tortured effort to build a domed stadium has been to treat the team like any other business. He’s promised support for surrounding public infrastructure and is now backing a plan that would likely land the team a long-term property tax break. But he has drawn a red line on state dollars for stadium construction. His assessment? “It’s working.”
A House committee last week advanced a long-stalled bill that would freeze property tax assessments on the sites of so-called “megaprojects” and instead allow developers to negotiate a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes with local governments for up to four decades.
DA BEARS’ WANT: The Bears have said the legislation is necessary for them to build their stadium on the 326-acre site they own in Arlington Heights. Otherwise, they may head over the border to Indiana, where Hoosier lawmakers passed a framework allowing the state to build a publicly owned stadium in Hammond. The state would pay up to $1 billion to build the stadium through a series of tax hikes and special taxing districts.
Pritzker likes Illinois’ odds: “Indiana would own the stadium for 20 or 30 years, and then they’d hand it over,” Pritzker said. “It would be like handing over Soldier Field after all these years as if they would want that. That’s not what they’ll want – they’ll want to replace the stadium probably after 30 years.”
SO LONG, CHICAGO? One thing is clear, Pritzker said: “They’re leaving” Chicago for either Arlington Heights or Hammond. And he’d like it to be on the Illinois side. The vehicle for getting that, he said, is the PILOT legislation, which he wants to add to the state’s economic development toolkit to lure other projects.
“PILOT bills exist in most other states because businesses that are expanding or moving to a state don’t want to have to go to every single taxing district — the park district, the school district, the library district and so on — and have to negotiate property taxes with each one of those,” Pritzker said. “If you want to grow business in the state, if you want to attract business in the state, we need a PILOT bill.”
LEGISLATIVE ROADBLOCK? Lawmakers expressed concern about the impact such a tool could have on tax revenue in their communities and about the potential shift of tax burden to surrounding residents and businesses. But recent changes to the bill, such as prohibiting housing units from inclusion in the PILOT, will make it less of a strain on local resources, Pritzker said.
“Remember: On the property that is covered by the PILOT bill, they’re not building condos or adding families that would use libraries or schools in that area,” Pritzker said. “It’s a stadium and amenities around the stadium. And so you’re not really taking resources out of a community, you’re adding resources into a community.”
MORE TO COME: Later today, we’ll have another post about Pritzker’s 2028 vision and relationship with President Donald Trump. We’ll publish the full video on our YouTube page tomorrow.
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