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Urbana TIF board reviews FY24–25 report, highlights $5.2 million Hotel Royer reimbursement and central‑TIF projects
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Summary
City staff told the Tax Increment Finance Joint Review Board that TIF 4 and Central TIF generated revenues and reimbursed developers in fiscal 2024–25, including a $5.2 million payout for Hotel Royer; the presentation also outlined reimbursements to local small businesses and remediation work at the former Adult Education building.
Olivia Jovi, director of community development services for the City of Urbana, presented the Tax Increment Finance (TIF) annual report for fiscal year 2024–25 and summarized activity across the city’s TIF districts.
Jovi said TIFs capture incremental property-tax revenue above a baseline to reinvest in the district and that the board had before it the formal reports submitted to the State of Illinois. “So within the TIF district, the current property values are frozen at a baseline, and the property taxes on that base value continue to flow to the existing taxing bodies. Anything above that baseline then gets captured within the TIF special fund and is used to reinvest back into that geographic area,” she said.
On TIF 4, which the presentation noted was established in 2001 and listed an expiration of Dec. 31, 2025, Jovi reported a beginning balance of $7,400,000 for the fiscal reporting period, revenues of $1,900,000, expenditures of $949,000, and an ending balance shown as $8,400,000. She detailed reimbursements from TIF 4 to local partners, including roughly $227,000 to the parks district under an intergovernmental agreement and about $211,000 described as a vocational-training payment to the Urbana School District.
Turning to Central TIF — the city’s youngest TIF, established in 2016 and shown with a 2040 expiration — Jovi explained a temporary negative accounting balance shown in the packet resulting from a large reimbursement that was later replenished through bonding. “We paid Hotel Royer $5,200,000 from Central TIF,” she said, adding that the city had secured a bond and the TIF balance was subsequently replenished. Jovi also noted the private investment in the Hotel Royer renovation exceeded $25,000,000.
Jovi outlined other Central TIF disbursements and projects: reimbursement grants for small businesses’ signage and renovations (examples cited included Elm Street Coffee and Cloud Mountain Kombucha, which received $25,000 after finishing renovations); a similar $25,000 cap for the Yellow Rabbit project; and annual developer reimbursements tied to performance for projects such as the 200 South Vine Street townhomes (the third scheduled reimbursement year amounted to about $172,000).
She described the city’s 2023 purchase of the former Adult Education building from the Urbana School District for $1 and said approximately $500,000 was spent in 2025 on professional services, site preparation and remediation, including demolition.
Looking ahead, Jovi said Central TIF is expected to be the only active TIF moving forward and highlighted near‑term projects: an RFP‑listed East Illinois Street site south of Lincoln Square Mall, a redevelopment agreement with CU Adventures for Parkadia that includes performance‑based food-and‑beverage sales‑tax reimbursement of up to $42,000, and an agreement with East High Horse for revenue‑contingent disbursements up to $39,500 annually over a multiyear schedule.
Jovi closed by offering to provide copies of the PowerPoint and the formal TIF reports to any board member who requested them. The board took no substantive action on the TIF items during the meeting; Jovi invited questions and there were none.
The board then moved on to other agenda items and adjourned.
