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Waukegan committee amends enterprise-zone ordinance to add state sales-tax exemption for building materials
Summary
The Finance and Purchasing Committee approved an amendment to the joint WaukeganNorth Chicago enterprise zone ordinance to add language matching North Chicagos provision that exempts the state portion of sales tax on building materials purchased in Illinois and affixed to property within the zone. Staff said the exemption is a commonly used, modest incentive to attract development.
The City of Waukegans Finance and Purchasing Committee voted Feb. 17, 2026, to amend ordinance 05-0-202 to add language allowing the state portion of sales-tax exemptions for building materials purchased in Illinois and affixed to property located inside the joint WaukeganNorth Chicago enterprise zone. The motion passed on a roll-call vote in committee.
Noelle Kischer Leppert, director of planning, zoning and economic development for the city of Waukegan, told the committee the enterprise zone was created in 2005 and that the sales-tax exemption for building materials is "the most utilized incentive within the enterprise zone program." She said the exemption applies to purchases made in Illinois that are put into property within the zone and is issued after staff review of an applicants reported jobs created or retained and investment levels. "If Im a business and Im going to build a new warehouse and I choose to build that in the enterprise zone ... then I can get that exemption for the building materials I purchase and put into this building," Leppert said.
Leppert described the incentive as relatively small compared with tools such as TIF or sales-tax rebates, but said it can influence a businesss location decision. She also noted the joint zone is capped at a total of 12 square miles between Waukegan and North Chicago and that staff periodically amend the map to free up unused acreage; she cited Yeoman Creek as an area previously added and later removed when a developer used a different state solar incentive.
During public comment, Chester Risatto of Ward 6 opposed the proposed change, arguing residents should not subsidize private development with tax exemptions. "The residents of Waukegan should not be tax subsidizing these folks' projects," Risatto said, asking the committee not to approve the amendment. Aldermen asked staff to consider whether language could be added to encourage or require use of local suppliers for materials; Leppert said council could add such language before the item proceeds.
The committee carried the motion to amend the ordinance on a recorded vote in committee. No subsequent action or final council adoption was recorded at this meeting.
