
The city of Aurora, Illinois and its Batavia school district have planned a deal to receive a portion of the increased property taxes that will come from the newly proposed Hollywood Casino, according to a local news report in the Daily Herald.
The new casino in northeastern Aurora will be located on Farnsworth Avenue near Bilter Road.
The agreement involves a city plan to develop a new tax increment financing district for Hollywood Casino, according to the local report. The plan includes setting 10% of the increased property tax aside to go to the Batavia Unit District 101, along with other potential taxing bodies, prior to any project cost payouts.
Under current circumstances, “any additional property tax revenue in a TIF district is devoted to paying for the work done that increased the value of the land,” the local report said.
The city of Aurora approved a redevelopment agreement with Penn Entertainment last fall. The city recently agreed to lend Penn Entertainment $50m toward the $360m Hollywood Casino construction project.
The proposed agreement would include payments the city would make toward its portion.
Per the conditions of the deal, the school district “will agree to vote favorably when the new TIF is reviewed by the city's Joint TIF review board,” said the local report.
Both the school board and the city council are expected to vote on the agreement in the coming week.
In other state news, The Illinois Gaming Board recently published its casino figures for the month of September. The state’s 15 land-based casinos brought in a total adjusted gross receipts amount of $132.1m during the month.