Committee reviews Monroe County Randolph Enterprise Zone amendment and map changes

Committee members reviewed an amendment to the Monroe County Randolph Enterprise Zone intergovernmental agreement and examined a map highlighting areas added and removed from the zone.

Staff asked attendees to turn to the document's last page and pointed out color coding on the map: blue for existing zone areas, green for areas added and red for areas removed. The staff summary noted that areas around Baldwin and between Tilden and Sparta were removed from the enterprise zone amendment.

Participants discussed the decision process for adding or removing areas: a larger group recommends changes and a directors group finalizes adjustments. The committee noted smaller communities sometimes want to be added but that inclusion requires paying a buy‑in fee; one committee speaker described a $10,000 initial buy‑in the city paid years ago and said the city received $1,000 back this past year for use on tourism.

The committee also discussed the practical benefit of the enterprise zone: "The most used benefit is the sales tax that you can get back when you're establishing a project when it is on building materials," a staff speaker said, adding that projects also can receive exemptions from Illinois State sales tax where applicable.

Committee members were advised the amendment will go before the city council for approval on the date identified in the record (listed as April 6 in the meeting discussion).