The City of Moline council voted to approve sending an application for a River Edge Redevelopment Zone (RERZ) to the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity and to pursue intergovernmental agreements with other taxing bodies to implement the program.

City planner Mr. Mathias told the council the zone would cover roughly 4,500 feet from the river and offer incentives — most notably access to historic tax credits and a property tax rebate the city estimates could be close to 90% for qualifying projects for a 10‑year period. Mathias said staff has been working with other taxing bodies to design an implementation agreement.

Councilmember Schmidt and others pressed staff on how the RERZ would interact with existing tax increment financing (TIF) districts and whether the program would reduce revenues available to the school district. Mathias and Mr. Vitas responded with examples showing developers would weigh the RERZ abatement against TIF redevelopment agreements and that the city expects to work through pro formas and intergovernmental agreements to address distribution of tax dollars.

Mr. Vitas said neighboring jurisdictions and other Illinois communities that have used similar programs indicate the RERZ can be structured so the incentive is administrable and to limit unintended impacts. Staff also said the state-level application process would be followed by negotiations with taxing districts to finalize any rebate arrangements.

After discussion, the council voted to approve forwarding the RERZ application and pursuing the necessary agreements; the motion passed.

The next steps identified by staff are submission of the application to DCEO and working with the school district and other taxing bodies on an intergovernmental agreement to clarify how rebates and increments will be handled.