A new analysis, filed in Cook County court, asserts a new industrial development planned for the site of a struggling south suburban golf club could add millions of dollars each year to the local property tax pot, decreasing local tax bills in the process for homeowners who have dealt with years of skyrocketing property tax demands.
However, that project remains locked up in court, as the village of Homewood continues to block the $90 million redevelopment proposed for the Calumet Country Club.
This week, real estate tax and valuation attorney Thomas E. Sweeney, of Chicago, filed an affidavit in Cook County Circuit Court, laying out what he expected to be the tax benefits to the region from the proposed Calumet Country Club redevelopment.
In all, Sweeney said his analysis showed the redevelopment project would generate more than $2.8 million a year in new property tax revenue for local governments, with more than 70% of that money going to local schools.
Further, Sweeney said that surge in tax revenue could decrease property tax bills for homeowners in the area by more than $361, depending on the value of the home, compared to 2018 tax bills. The $361 decrease was calculated based on the value of a home valued at $150,000.
According to real estate tracking site Zillow, the median home value in Homewood stands at nearly $167,000.
The affidavit was filed as part of a long-running conflict between the village and the owners of the Calumet Country Club, in partnership with a development group, identified as Diversified Partners.
Almost two years ago, Diversified Partners reached a deal to buy the 130-acre country club from its ownership group, CCC Investors.
At that time, the developers and property owners began talks with the village of Homewood about plans to redevelop the site, to boost the site’s profitability and add to the tax base in the village and local school districts.
Such new commercial construction can relieve the property tax burden faced by homeowners. And in Homewood and other south suburban Cook County communities, those burdens have grown much heavier in recent decades.
Currently, in Homewood, residents pay a composite tax rate – representing taxes paid to school districts, the village and other local public bodies – of more than 16%.
Tax bills have increased by more than 60% in the community since 2010, according to data posted by the Cook County Clerk’s office.
However, the value of property in the village has increased by only about 10% in the last four years, that data shows.
Despite the potential for new tax revenue, Homewood village officials have to this point rejected the plans to redevelop the site for new warehouses or other industrial uses. The developers have said they marketed the property to a number of different potential end users, including retailers like IKEA, Lowes, Walmart, Target and Home Depot, and popular recreation chain Top Golf, only to be rejected by all. In the end, the developers have said the only potential new use for the site is the one they proposed to the village.
Village officials, however, have fought against that redevelopment plan and refused to even consider it, asserting it would harm the community.
Faced with the prospect of losing the sale of its property, the country club owners sued the village, asking Cook County Judge Maureen Ward Kirby to order the village to allow the property to disconnect from the village.
According to published reports, the developers have approached the neighboring village of Hazel Crest about then adding their development and the potential tax base boost to Hazel Crest. To this point, Hazel Crest has said it wishes to remain neutral in the conflict.
However, the potential tax base boost could be quite a windfall, according to the analysis presented to Judge Kirby by Sweeney.
According to that document, if the village allowed Diversified Partners to purchase and redevelop the country club according to its proposal, the plan would add $251,297 a year to the village’s tax haul.
The development generate $46,307 a year for Cook County, Sweeney said.
And it’s biggest boost would be felt in local schools. According to the analysis, the development would add $927,542 annually to taxes collected by Thornton Township High School District 205 and more than $1.1 million each year to Hazel Crest District 152.5.
The analysis predicts the development would substantially increase the region’s total tax base, as measured by the total taxable value, known as equalized assessed value.
“As the development will add EAV to each of the impacted (taxing) districts, the tax rates for each district will decrease,” Sweeney wrote in the analysis.
The analysis measured only the decrease in tax bills for the school districts’ portion of the tax bill. Typically, school districts account for two-thirds or more of Illinois property tax bills paid by homeowners and other property owners.
The presidents and vice presidents of the school boards of Thornton Township High School District 205 and Hazel Crest District 152.5 did not reply to questions emailed by The Cook County Record concerning the analysis and the potential tax benefits to their districts.
According to data published by the Cook County Clerk, Thornton Township High School District 205 charged a property tax rate of $6.476 per $100 EAV in 2018.
District 152.5 charged an additional $7.873 per $100 EAV in 2018.
This meant the owners of a $150,000 home in both of those districts paid those school districts more than $7,174 in property taxes for tax year 2018. According to the analysis by Sweeney, those tax bills could decrease to about $6,800, compared to 2018, should the Diversified Partners development be built.
CCC Investors is represented in the lawsuit against Homewood by attorneys with the firm of Sosin Arnold & Schoenbeck.