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Urbana TIF board reports FY25 finances, cites Hotel Royer reimbursement and ongoing downtown projects
Summary
City staff told the Tax Increment Financing Joint Review Board that FY25 revenues and reimbursements left TIF 4 with an $8.4 million ending balance while Central TIF briefly showed a negative FY25 balance after a $5.2 million reimbursement to Hotel Royer that has since been covered by bonds; staff also reviewed grants and small-business reimbursements.
The Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Joint Review Board in Urbana reviewed fiscal-year 2025 activity on May 11, including district finances, recent reimbursements and development projects.
Olivia Joy, director of community development services for the City of Urbana, told board members that TIF 4 — established in 2001 and expired Dec. 31, 2025 — began FY25 with about $7.4 million, recorded $1.9 million in revenues, spent about $949,000 and closed the year with roughly $8.4 million. She described those expenditures as reimbursements to partner taxing districts, vocational training payments and infrastructure work including sidewalks and street-lighting improvements.
Central TIF, created in 2016 and scheduled to expire in 2040, showed a more complex picture. "The beginning balance for fiscal year 25 is $3.5 million," Joy said, and revenues were a little over $1 million while expenditures were about $6.5 million, yielding an FY25 ending balance of negative $1.9 million; Joy explained that the apparent deficit reflected large project reimbursements that were later replenished.
One significant payout was to Hotel Royer, a downtown rehabilitation project originally tied to a 2019 redevelopment agreement. Joy said the city paid $5.2 million from Central TIF to fulfill its reimbursement obligation after the hotel’s renovation finished and the certificate of occupancy was issued in April 2025. "The plan was always to utilize a bond for that," Joy said; she reported the bond has since been secured and the TIF balance replenished. Joy noted private investment in the hotel exceeded $25 million.
Joy detailed other Central TIF activity in FY25: a $25,000 reimbursement to Cloud Mountain Kombucha for relocation and renovation; a similar reimbursement for Yellow Rabbit’s basement build-out at 1366 W. Main St.; a third-year reimbursement to a redevelopment project at 200 S. Vine Street that paid 60% of eligible incremental taxes (about $72,000) under a five-year schedule; nearly $500,000 for sidewalks, pavement patching and street lights; and professional services, marketing and small grants covering several hundred thousand dollars.
She also reviewed the city’s purchase and remediation of an adult education building acquired from the Urbana School District in 2023 for $1, saying about $500,000 was spent in 2025 on demolition, site preparation and associated professional services.
Joy highlighted near-term Central TIF priorities, including an RFP response for an East Illinois Street site near Lincoln Square Mall and a performance-based redevelopment agreement with CU Adventures for Parkadia, a mini-golf and tavern concept that may be eligible for reimbursements tied to food and beverage sales tax.
The board had no questions for the presenter and unanimously approved routine items earlier in the meeting, including appointing Laura Orchid as the public member and selecting Mayor Deshawn Williams as chair.
The city’s TIF annual reports for FY25 have been submitted to the State of Illinois, Joy said, and staff offered to share the presentation slides on request.
The TIF Joint Review Board portion of the meeting adjourned without further action.
