Two Illinois lawmakers are pushing new efforts to keep the Chicago Bears from leaving for Indiana, as the mayor of Hammond says the exact site for a new Bears stadium in the Hoosier state is still in flux.
Illinois state Rep. Dan Ugaste (R-St. Charles) on Tuesday unveiled his plan for so-called "PILOT legislation," which he plans to file in the Illinois General Assembly by next week.
Under his proposal, any state business that commits at least $500 in commercial development could negotiate lower property tax bills with local governments in exchange for fixed payments in lieu of taxes.
Ugaste stressed his legislation is not limited to the Bears, nor to Arlington Heights.
"It would be statewide, and would allow any community to compete for this project going forward," he said.
Ugaste's proposal would not allow developments involving residential construction or data centers to qualify for PILOT payments.
Meantime, Illinois state Rep Martin McLaughlin (R-Lake Barrington), announced a separate proposal designed only for the Bears and only Arlington Heights.
After a determination on the value of the former Arlington Park racetrack site the Bears purchased for $197 million in 2023, their annual property tax bill would go up exactly 2.5% a year.
To secure that property tax certainty, the Bears would have to pump at least $2.5 billion into their stadium project. McLaughlin's proposal would offer $1.2 billion in state funding, and come with a 30-year commitment from both sides.
"Certainty is what the Bears need, what any business needs, and that certainty needs to come in the form of a value set on the land that they purchased, with a 2.5% annual increase," he said. "It's been done in other places, successfully."
But, for any legislation aimed at keeping the Bears in Illinois to move forward with any kind of speed, lawmakers would have to return to Springfield for a special session before their regular veto session in November and December.
Meantime, Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. remained bullish on the Bears moving to Indiana, after the team announced last week it was moving forward with plans to build a new stadium there, although a specific site has not yet been chosen.
"Theres only one site. That's Hammond Indiana, site to be selected, which means there's more than one site in Hammond the Bears are looking at, and they're going to decide among those sites which one they want to build on," McDermott said on his "Left of Center" podcast.
While the Bears have said their focus is now on Hammond, they have left the door open to continue negotiating with Illinois lawmakers to stay in Illinois.
State Rep. Kam Buckner (D-Chicago) and state Sen. Bill Cunningham (D-Chicago) both said Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren spoke with them on Friday and said he was open to continuing discussions on legislation supporting a new stadium in Illinois.
The two-state tango continues, with Illinois' next step unclear, while Indiana lawmakers have approved legislation to pave the way for a Bears move to Hammond. The proposal would commit up to $1 billion in public funding towards a stadium, and create a Northwest Indiana Stadium Authority with the power to issue bonds, acquire land, and finance construction.
While Indiana has agreed to help finance a Bears stadium, the team plans to commit $2 billion towards the construction of the facility. Indiana officials have yet to lay out how they plan to help fund the project, or what taxes would be needed to pay for it.
In April, theIllinois House voted to pass a so-called "megaprojects bill" that would have allowed the Bears or other developers investing at least $100 million in a project to negotiate property tax breaks with local governments. The Illinois Senate never voted on that legislation,instead passing a bill on Monday that would have allowed local municipalities in Cook County with a population of more than 70,000 to set up their own stadium authorities. Arlington Heights and Chicago both meet that threshold.
Under that plan, the Bears would have put up the cash to build the stadium but the local government would officially own it and the Bears would lease it from them — thus avoiding property taxes altogether. However, the Illinois House adjourned for the summer without taking up that proposal.
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Illinois General Assembly
Hammond Indiana
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