By the end of the month, Brookfield could have a formal policy outlining potential financial perks to encourage new businesses and developers to come to the village.
The village board discussed the draft policy for a second time Monday night at the committee of the whole meeting, and trustees are expected to vote on it at their next regular meeting on July 28.
The policy contained changes based on previous feedback from trustees, including new definitions and explanations of the village’s existing economic incentive programs, like its tax-increment financing districts, which allow increases in property value through redevelopment to funnel into further improvements to the area.
For example, the Theater Building, which Brookfield is seeking to have fully redeveloped, is located within the Grand Boulevard TIF district.
One of the biggest changes for everyday businesses in Brookfield is an addition to the Property Improvement Program, through which owners could seek up to 50% reimbursement for the cost of external improvements to their storefront. The program is set to be split in two with the creation of one grant of up to $2,000 for signage improvements and the other up to $20,000 for larger facade improvements or overall renovations.
That larger grant now includes costs related to sustainable or environmentally friendly upgrades taking place at the same time as facade work, though Libby Popovic, the community development director, said reimbursements will not be considered solely for that work.
“Eligible costs have to be directly tied to a facade in the overall project, and not just independent, a la carte sustainable upgrades,” she said.
Trustee Katie Kaluzny said members of Brookfield’s conservation commission hoped to review the addition to the policy at their next meeting. She said they may create a supplemental list of grants available to business owners for sustainable improvements so they don’t have to tie them into renovations for village reimbursement.
“I do appreciate that it’s in there,” Trustee Jennifer Hendricks said of the added sustainability-focused changes. “They’re economic development policies, so they’re intended to change the look of the area, to elevate everybody. I think that if we were to make it so that people could get these grants for just solar panels on their roofs, while that would generally help the community, it doesn’t help raise the look of Grand Boulevard or Ogden Avenue in the way that we’re trying to do with these grants.”
The board also discussed fast-tracking signage and awning PIP grant applications through the village’s economic development commission straight to regular village board meetings. Larger-scale PIP projects would need to go through the planning and zoning commission and the committee of the whole before the village board’s final vote.
Other members of the board lauded additions that emphasized the board’s right to have a final say in which incentives are offered to businesses or developers, regardless of the options within the policy.
“Our role in evaluating eligibility, I think, is going to be critical moving forward as representatives of the public. Something like the ‘but for’ test for the property tax rebate, there’s potential significant revenue loss for the village in that scenario,” Trustee Kyle Whitehead said. “Would this investment be made without this incentive? I think a lot of the people making that investment would want to make that case, so we can use consultant support to evaluate the argument and the data.”
Trustee Kit Ketchmark said the policy should emphasize to developers that sales tax or property tax rebates or abatements would come from Brookfield’s relatively small share of the taxes collected.
“The village share of sales tax is 1%, so if somebody comes in and think there’s a rebate, possibly, of a 10% sales tax like we pay here, that’s not correct,” he said.
He made a similar point about Cook County incentives that are outlined in the draft policy but that Brookfield has no control in offering directly.
Overall, trustees seemed supportive of the policy as a way to increase development within the village.
“Altogether, the package, I think, is exciting because it continues to advance the development we’re seeing across the village and will put us in an even stronger position moving forward,” Whitehead said. “I look forward to more conversations using the policy.”
