The Chicago Bears’ potential move to Arlington Heights got a little more complicated after the Cook County Assessor hiked the assessed value of the team’s newly acquired land, meaning their property tax bill could be headed for a major increase.
The team closed on the purchase of the 326-acre site that held the former Arlington International Racecourse in February, paying $197.2 million for the property. The previous assessed value sat at roughly $33 million, but as part of the triennial reassessment, Assessor Fritz Kaegi’s office placed its value at $197 million. That increase could hike the property tax bill proportionally, spelling out a potential sixfold spike.
“The Cook County Assessor has increased the cost potentially of a Bears’ tax bill dramatically by reassessing the property way above what it was,” said Greg Hinz, of Crain’s Chicago Business, who first reported the news. He said the move could raise the bill from $2.75 million to an estimated $16.5 million.
“By my calculations, the owners of that property have to pay at least another $15 million a year in property taxes right away if his decision is upheld,” Hinz said. “Fifteen million is a lot for the Bears. Fifteen million dollars is probably what a couple of good players cost a year.”
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A spokesman for Kaegi said his office looked at various estimates including the recent sale, a cost analysis and other transactions for large tracts of land in the northwest suburbs in order to determine the property’s value.
“In each approach, we found the market value to be consistent with both the Bears' recent purchase price and other large properties which were purchased for redevelopment,” Kaegi’s spokesman said in a statement. “The Assessor’s Office believes the $197.2 million market value is a fair and accurate assessment of the value of the property.”
Churchill Downs – which previously owned the property and would initially be on the hook for the increased bill beginning from tax year 2022 – filed an appeal with the Cook County Board of Review, asserting that the property is valued at $37.2 million.
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“Whenever a taxpayer disagrees with that value, they have the opportunity to appeal,” said Cook County Board of Review Commissioner Samantha Steele. She noted that an area school district is also intervening in the appeal, presenting an appraisal of the property at $150 million.
Steele’s office said a hearing is tentatively scheduled for June 2 if the parties don’t settle before then.
“The taxpayer will present why they think that their value should be what they're asking for. And then the Assessor will present why they set their value and then the intervener will present their evidence, and so the commissioners will review that evidence, and their commissioners’ staff, and then make a determination based on the evidence that was submitted,” Steele explained.
The last time the Board of Review ruled on an appeal for the property was in 2016, her office said, when the Board agreed with the assessor’s finding of a $43 million value.
“Paying property taxes is part of being a member of the community. We want to pay our fair share,” the Bears said in a statement. “But the proposed assessment of the unoccupied property we purchased, and the taxes associated with it, would be more than five times what the property generated when it had an income-producing racetrack operating on it. Arlington Park would not be redeveloped by anyone at such an excessive property tax rate.”
The Bears have long said that they will not seek public funding for the construction of the football stadium itself, but they do want public money for infrastructure for the surrounding development, as well as long-term “property tax certainty.”
As the team pushes for that in Springfield – currently a seemingly stalled effort – this latest move may drive up their costs of owning the land well before they begin any sort of potential development.
“What Mr. Kaegi’s move effectively does is raise the holding costs for any delay while they figure this out,” Hinz said. “It means that they have to get it done and make the decision more quickly or it's going to cost them.”
“This is not a team that's known, or family that’s known for throwing around money,” he added. “They tend to keep it pretty close to the vest and in their wallet and if the vehemence of their reaction is any indication, they don't like this at all.”
