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Council approves sending River Edge Redevelopment Zone application to state, citing property tax rebate incentives
Summary
City staff told the Moline City Council the proposed River Edge Redevelopment Zone would cover roughly 4,500 feet from the river and could provide access to historic tax credits and a property tax rebate (staff cited up to ~90%); council asked for clarity on interactions with TIF districts and impact on other taxing bodies before endorsing the application to DCEO.
City staff told the Moline City Council they are ready to submit a River Edge Redevelopment Zone (RERZ) application to the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and asked the council to approve sending the application to the state.
Mister Mathias said the proposed zone would cover roughly 4,500 feet from the river and is intended to incentivize rehabilitation of older, historic buildings. He told the council the primary advantage is access to historic tax credits and that staff had been negotiating with other taxing bodies to provide a property tax incentive. "We think we'll be able to offer close to, like, a 90% tax rebate with this zone because all the taxing bodies will participate," Mathias said.
Councilmembers pressed staff on how the RERZ would interact with existing tax increment financing (TIF) districts and what the impact would be for school districts and other taxing bodies. Mister Vitas and council members discussed examples (including Eastgate TIF) and noted that some TIFs are new and others are older with limited remaining life; staff said they would continue to coordinate with taxing bodies and may consult other River Edge communities for precedence. Mister Atkins said he would contact other River Edge communities to learn how they handled overlaps.
The council voted to approve forwarding the RERZ application to the state for review and to continue intergovernmental work on the intergovernmental agreement and tax rebate structure. Staff said further legal and fiscal analysis would be completed as the application advances.
The council’s approval is a procedural step to submit the application; specific tax-rebate terms and intergovernmental agreements remain subject to negotiation and state approval.
