DES PLAINES
TIFs’ viability runs gamut, council told
The financial health of the five special taxing districts in Des Plaines ranges from solid to shaky, City Council members were told this week.
The tax-increment financing districts, created between 1985 and 2006, include the city’s downtown area with a projected year-end fund balance of $5.8 million and a 47-acre area around Wille and Mt. Prospect Roads, which is operating with a projected deficit of $2.6 million.
“In general, this is a TIF program to be proud of,” said Leslie Murphy, of Griffith Murphy Consulting, during a meeting Monday night.
But Murphy said tax incentives granted to businesses within the TIF around Wille and Mt. Prospect Roads and property tax appeals have crippled the fund’s bottom line. Fund balances are used to pay for infrastructure improvements within a TIF district.
Mark Shuman
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HOFFMAN ESTATES
Village hires former Cook County judge
Lawyer Arthur L. Janura Jr., who as a Cook County judge once heard traffic and misdemeanor cases in Hoffman Estates, has been hired as the village’s corporation counsel.
Janura and the law firm of Arnstein & Lehr were hired Monday to replace Richard Williams, who retired last month after 34 years as the Hoffman Estates corporation counsel.
Janura of Inverness became a partner at Arnstein & Lehr after retiring in December as a Circuit Court judge.
The law firm will be paid an annual retainer of $240,000 plus expenses. The village also has hired Dominick DiMaggio as a prosecutor and assistant corporation counsel at an annual salary of $70,000.
Williams was a full-time village employee who was paid $156,000 a year in salary and received other benefits.
Ken Manson
