By Howard Packowitz

NORMAL – The Town of Normal now has the blessing of all six affected taxing bodies to keep certain properties off their tax rolls to stimulate Uptown development.

The Unit 5 School Board Thursday unanimously supported a 12 year extension of Uptown’s tax increment financing district, which diverts property tax revenue into incentives for developers to build in the area.

The undeveloped parcels are worth only $8,732 in taxable land values, and board members like Mike Trask are betting the TIF extention will help raise values for those parcels and nearby properties.

“If it does not get developed, then we stay with that value, so the upside is that they can develop that and we’ll eventually see that parcel, that value, go up and get that EAV (Equalized Assessed Value) after the 12 years,” Trask said.

Mayoral hopeful Mark Tiritilli spoke out against the TIF extension saying Unit 5’s tax money is best spent on schools, not Uptown development.

“It’s contrary to the mission of the district to pursue economic development,” said Tiritilli, who plans to run a second time for mayor of Normal.

Unit 5 Superintendent Mark Daniel said the school district has to be concerned with growth to build its tax base.

“We are a foundation of a growing community. A growing community is also economically strong, so is it the chicken before the egg or the egg before the chicken? I don’t know, but they both go hand-in-hand,” said Daniel.

Earlier in the day, The Normal Township Board voted for the longer TIF, with Supervisor Sarah Grammer casting the only ‘no’ vote.

With all taxing bodies on board, it’s believed the town will have an easier time persuading state lawmakers to adopt the TIF extension.

Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected]