Dupage Policy Journal

At its Oct. 27 meeting, the Winfield District 34 School Board heard from board Vice President Matthew Tibble, who updated the board on legal issues in the district, mainly the ongoing lawsuit between the school district and the village. 

The lawsuit is based on the current Tax Increment Financing (TIF) in three ways: whether it complies with the ‘But for’ test, whether it complies with the statutory requirements associated with implementation of the TIF, and whether it meets the requirements in the TIF act of spurring economic development.

“So we're still kind of waiting for documentation from the village and we've got some documentation that's in our possession from Acane and McKenna that we're kind of waiting to go through,” Tibble told the board. “It's moving, but it's moving at a glacial pace, I think, as a consequence of a number of the steps that the village is taking”

The district maintains that the TIF fails in all three of these areas because the village is planning on development of these areas regardless of the TIF and because it will not spur economic growth or returns to taxpayers because the developments will not generate tax revenue. This includes the roughly $16 million for the village hall project.

Both District 34 and District 94 have been in contact with the village about this matter. They have put together documentation and reviewed it before the due date of Oct. 20. The village has not produced any documents for review by the due date, which may result in additional attorney fees for the district because of the delays. There are also some issues with documentations from the firm that developed the TIF plan for the village.

Also at the meeting, Jason Kucera, principal of Winfield Primary & Central Schools, recognized eighth graders Emily Kacick and Samantha Mueller for their leadership skills.

The board will meet again at 7 p.m. on Thursday at the Winfield Central Schools Commons.