Agenda - 01-10-1994 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Need to Catch lip Editor's Note: The encouraging response to the September DuPage governments may have had to catch up with issue is evidence that planners in rapidly urbanizing copulation growth from the previous decade.DuPage had jurisdictions across the nation are beginning to question More rapid population growth prior to 1980 than did the whether we as a profession have a complete understanding other collar counties.This was also a period of very high of how economies and land markets operate. The structures inflation. Governments may have been r_luctant to raise that allowed for "business as usual" in our communities taxes sufficiently to keep up with the rising demands of a seem to be undergoing a fundamental change. This change growing residential population and keep up with inflation, might be driven by an increasing demand for services, as However, once both inflation and population growth slowed DuPage County's study suggested. It might stem from in the 1980s,taxes could be raised more easily,especially political decisions made by states and localities, as the since nonresidential growth continued to increase very author:state above. It may result from changes in land use rapidly and thus would shoulder an increasing share of and a move towards a "post-industrial"economy, as 1 the burden. suggested last September. Or it might be a combination of the three.At any rate, it is clear that any jurisdiction Increased Education Costs integrating its land-use and fiscal planning must come to School enrollments may have increased in DuPage more terms with these questions. rapidly than elsewhere,especially from 1985 to 1989. This May, at APA's national conference in Washington, There is a"secondary"baby boom, and it has affected many D.C.. Public Investment News will hold a seminar on this suburban school districts. Along with this,there may have issue. The discussion should be lively and informative, and been changes in other determinants of school expenditures, 1 hope that many of you will attend. D.B. such as teacher salaries or classroom sizes and attendant capital costs. Some of the increased education costs may have been Wichita Ties driven by income growth.Income growth in DuPage was higher than in three of the other four counties in metropolitan Redevelopment to Chicago.Income growth leads to greater demands for public Environmental Cleanup services,especially schools. Our preliminary analysis shows, not surprisingly,that wealthier school districts spend more Just as the city of Wichita,Kansas, was preparing to draw per pupil than other districts. up plans for a major downtown redevelopment effort, a discovery of toxic groundwater contamination threatened to Cher Factors cloud the sunny future of the largest central business district e DuPage study suggests several variables as causal in the state.The contamination,stemming from an industrial ones to explain why nonresidential development might area on the edge of downtown, affected a six-square-mile be associated with tax increases.Most of these relate to area directly below the proposed redevelopment district. increased education expenditures to accommodate the need Once the contamination was discovered, all attempts at for a quality work force;road and traffic expenditures;and attracting financing for the redevelopment came to an abrupt safety-related expenditures (police,fire,courts)linked to halt."It was like turning off a switch"says Mark Glasser, increased urbanization. Some of these are already included in assistant to the city manager."You can't buy, sell,or get a the hypotheses above;others, such as the following,certainly loan on any property in a contaminated area."The possibility should be analyzed as pats of a larger study: of lenders being held liable for environmental cleanup, • increases in the quality of schools,as reflected in higher coupled with the normal risks of redevelopment,crushed paid teachers,smaller classrooms,etc.; any willingness by banks to invest in downtown Wichita. • the extent to which employers/firms actually influence Planners and other officials in Wichita felt that time was against them,as the downtown area was facing stiff school expenditures; competition from new development on the city's periphery. • expenditures for vocational training; If they waited for Superfund and other federal programs to • expenditures for increased in-school services; kick in,they could lose the opportunity to stabilize property • increased expenditures(absolute and per capita)for values downtown. police and fire protection; Wichita had some experience with federal cleanup efforts. At another site north of the city,property values dropped • increased expenditures on social services; over 40 percent and the cleanup took considerably longer What is clear is that the study by the DuPage County than originally estimated.The planning and development development department raised important questions that community blamed the inefficiency of the U.S.EPA.And, call out for further research.Possible lines of inquiry could while EPA dragged its feet,land in the area was lost as a include a quantitative analysis of tax rates in all Illinois contributor to local tax rolls.Determined to see that this counties,as well as a more qualitative analysis of the situation was not repeated downtown,the city resolved to decision-making process in some of the major taxing bodies. take responsibility for the cleanup.Cost estimates came in •-� . is would also allow an exploration of the possibility that at about$20 million—approximately the value of the taxes me of the tax increases represent"windfall profit taking" generated by the property at risk. ay some of the taxing bodies that experienced large increases The city first established a Tax Increment Financing in taxable property. district for downtown and redirected the funds raised there to begin the groundwater remediation process as soon as possible. It pursued legal action against the parties 3