DeKalb Times

Dekalb County Economic Development Committee met Jan. 7.

Here is the minutes provided by the committee:

The DeKalb County Economic Development Committee met on Tuesday, January 7, 2020 in the Administration Building’s Conference Room East in Sycamore, Illinois. Chair Emmer called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Those Members presented were Mr. Tim Bagby, Ms. Rukisha Crawford, Mr. Tim Hughes, Ms. Terri Mann-Lamb, Ms. Sandra Polanco, and Chair Laurie Emmer. A quorum was established with all six Members present.

Others present included Gary Hanson, Derek Hiland, Doug Johnson, Paul Borek, Jeff Whelan, and Matthew Wells.

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

It was moved by Ms. Polanco, seconded by Ms. Crawford, and it was carried unanimously to approve the meeting agenda as presented.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

It was moved by Mr. Hughes, seconded by Mr. Bagby, and it was carried unanimously to approve the minutes from the November 5, 2019 meeting.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

Mr. Jeff Whelan inquired to Mr. Paul Borek when a business takes part in the DeKalb County Enterprise Zone who gets the credits the manufacturer/business that is moving into a location or the contractor who is building the building. Mr. Borek shared that the sales tax exemption is provided to the project and the builder and how that is allocated is between the owner/operator/developer and/or company and their builder/contractors.

Mr. Whelan additionally asked if in the newly proposed Raffle & Poker Run Ordinance if those licenses were still going to be free to Charities and Non-profits. Mr. Johnson answered no, he is proposing there be a charge.

APPROVAL OF AMENDMENTS TO THE DEKALB COUNTY ENTERPRISE ZONE & ENTERPRISE ZONE INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT

DeKalb County Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Paul Borek brought forth to the Committee two amendments to the DeKalb County Enterprise Zone along with two Enterprise Zone Intergovernmental Agreement Amendments for consideration by the County.

The first being the DeKalb County Enterprise Zone Amendment II – Boundary Amendment – Option 2. Mr. Borek explained that the City of DeKalb has requested that the County’s Enterprise Zone add approximately 500 acres located south of Gurler Road between Illinois Route 23 and a property line just east of Peace Road extended.

This proposed addition involves five separate parcels and is intended to allow the County to be able to more effectively compete for large scale projects. By having such a large acreage available in the Zone, DeKalb County will be able to be considered for large square footage facilities which can provide significant quality jobs and capital investment. Mr. Borek continued that currently, the County is at a disadvantage due to the lack of parcels which meet the needs of today’s high impact projects and development prospects.

In order to accomplish this addition, Mr. Borek shared they will be pursuing an Option 2 Boundary Amendment which is, by definition, designed to help eliminate impediments to economic development. Approval of this Boundary Amendment would enable the County to compete for development like Project Ventus, a Confidential Knowledge-Based or Technology Industry Project.

The proposed Boundary Amendment site is located in DeKalb County (Afton Township), south of Gurler Road between Illinois Route 23 and the property line just east of Peace Road extended. It would be annexed to the City of DeKalb to provide for utilities and an upgrade to Gurler Road.

The DeKalb County Enterprise Zone has a maximum capacity of 15 square miles. Currently, territory totaling 13.1 square miles is included within the Zone, which capacity available for additional 1,100 acres.

Mr. Borek reminded that current Enterprise Zone Participating Units of Government applicable to this site are the City of DeKalb, DeKalb County Government, DeKalb Park District, DeKalb Public Library, Afton Township, Kishwaukee Water Reclamation District, DeKalb School District #428 and Kishwaukee College.

This Boundary Amendment will require the following:

- Approval of a Add Territory Boundary Amendment to the Designating Ordinance by the Designating Units of Government; as well as

- Amendment to the DeKalb County Enterprise Zone Intergovernmental Agreement between Designating Units; and

- Approval of an “Add Territory Boundary Amendment – Option 2” Application by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO).

After brief discussion, Mr. Bagby moved to recommend the approval of a DeKalb County Enterprise Zone Boundary Amendment along with an Amendment to the DeKalb County Enterprise Zone Intergovernmental Agreement to the full County Board. Ms. Polanco seconded the motion and it was carried unanimously.

Mr. Borek continued that the next amendment would be a DeKalb County Enterprise Zone Amendment III – Incentive Modification Amendment. He further explained that the City of DeKalb is working to attract two extraordinarily large development projects. All phases of development for each of these projects are projected to ament to 2 million square feet of development and more than $100,000,000 to $800,000,000 of investment.

Tax revenue generation for Project Hammer is estimated to amount to $69 million or more over 15 years. This amount nearly matches the revenue generated by a major portion of DeKalb’s industrial base – Nestle, Panduit, 3M, Goodyear and Target – during a 15-year period.

He reminded that Project Hammer is a food processing company planning to development 2.4 million square feet of new building space, 1.4 million of which would be manufacturing, with ample room for expansion. Job creation is estimated to be 1,000 permanent jobs and another 1,000 temporary construction jobs.

The second project, codenamed Project Ventus, is proposing to invest $800 million in the development of 900,000 square feet of space during Phase I. Project Ventus is planning to purchase a 500-acre site enabling development of one or additional identical phases during the near future (5 to 15 years). In order to compete successfully for these projects, tax abatement terms of 15 to 20 years are required. The annual rate of tax abatement, or revenue-sharing agreement, would be 50% and 55% respectively, each year throughout the term of the 15- or 20- year span of the agreement.

It is proposed that tis Incentive Amendment would be limited to the Interstate Commerce Market (ICM) area of the DeKalb County Enterprise Zone, located within 3 1⁄2 miles of the centerline of Interstate 88. This amendment would not impact the criteria, terms and conditions of the Countywide DeKalb County Enterprise Zone Property Tax Abatement Program.

In order to accommodate one of these projects, and address similar future projects, the following Enterprise Zone Property Tax Abatements are proposed:

- 15-years at 50% per year for project with a minimum of $100 million of investment, 400 jobs and 900,000 square feet of development.

- 20-years at 55% per year for projects with a minimum of $800 million of investment, 50 jobs and 900,000 square feet of development.

The project will require the following:

- Approval of Amendments to the Designating Ordinance by the Designating Unites of Government; as well as

- Amendment to the DeKalb County Enterprise Zone Intergovernmental Agreement between the Designating Units: DeKalb County, City of DeKalb, City of Genoa, City of Sandwich, City of Sycamore and Township of Cortland and Village of Waterman; and

- Approval of an Incentive Amendment Application by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO).

After brief discussion, Mr. Bagby moved to recommend the approval of a DeKalb County Enterprise Zone Incentive Amendment along with another Amendment to the DeKalb County Enterprise Zone Intergovernmental Agreement to the full County Board. Ms. Mann-Lamb seconded the motion and it was carried unanimously.

DCEDC UPDATE

Mr. Borek additionally provided the Committee with his presentation from the 2019 State of the County PowerPoint that was given at the DeKalb County Economic Development Corporation’s Annual Dinner on November 21, 2019. The presentation gave an in-depth look at many economic developments that are happening around DeKalb County. The PowerPoint along with the presentation notes are attached.

The Committee thanked Mr. Borek for joining them and for all the information he brought along.

AMENDMENTS TO THE DEKALB COUNTY RAFFLE & POKER RUN ORDINANCE / APPLICATION

County Clerk & Recorder Doug Johnson joined the Committee once again to review an updated revised version of the County Raffle & Poker Run Ordinance that had been sent back to the Committee for further review a couple month’s ago. He shared that after reviewing the Committee/Board’s concerns as well as suggestions from the State’s Attorney’s Office, he is bringing forth to them a newly revised version of the Ordinance. The Committee was sent the revisions ahead of time to have adequate time to review.

Mr. Johnson also shared, as he had previously noted, if he was going to go back through this process again, he was going to start reinstating fees, which is not reflected within the Ordinance. Prior to 2012, the County Clerk’s Office did have a $10.00 per Raffle License fee that was assessed. A previous County Clerk eliminated that fee and for many years now the process has been done without any fee attached. Since that time, reporting requirements have become quite cumbersome for office staff and Mr. Johnson is proposing to reinstate a $10.00 fee to obtain a Raffle or Poker Run License. A Class D License is calling for a $50.00 fee but that is because it is a twelve-month license.

He also explained that per the State’s Attorney’s Office’s recommendation, where Political Committee’s apply for a license is outlined in the Ordinance. Mr. Johnson noted that his goal was to stay as close as possible to what is outlined in the Illinois State Statute regarding Raffle & Poker Runs. He also wanted to maintain a separation of raffles from gambling.

Ms. Polanco shared that she went through the Illinois Raffle & Poker Run Act and compared that to the proposed Ordinance prior to the meeting. She reviewed with Mr. Johnson a few discrepancies between the two. Mr. Johnson noted the additional items and stated that he would incorporate those into the final version that is sent to the full County Board if the Committee were to choose to forward the item at this time.

Mr. Bagby moved to forward the DeKalb County Raffle & Poker Run Ordinance with the technical corrections and substantive paragraph additions suggested by Ms. Polanco to the full County Board recommending its approval. Mr. Hughes seconded the motion as presented and it was carried unanimously.

ADJOURNMENT

It was moved by Ms. Polanco, seconded by Ms. Crawford and it was carried unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 8:11 p.m.

https://dekalbcounty.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/min20-ecojan.pdf