Arlington Heights-area school districts reach agreement with Churchill Downs on racecourse property taxes — but deal with Bears still being sought

Local school districts and the former owner of Arlington International Racecourse have agreed on how large the property tax bill payable this year should be, but negotiations with the new owners — the Chicago Bears — for future tax years and payments are still ongoing.

Former racetrack owner Churchill Downs Inc. will pay $7.9 million in property taxes this year, up from the $2.7 million it paid before closing the track in 2021.

Arlington Heights-based Township High School District 214, Palatine-based Township High School District 211 and Palatine Community Consolidated School District 15 — an elementary school district — all receive property tax revenue from the racetrack site.

District officials confirmed the schools and Churchill Downs Inc. reached the agreement May 31, though the Cook County Board of Review still must approve it.

But because the settlement is only good for one year, the Bears — new owners of the 326-acre property as of February — will have to re-negotiate the value of the land if they want to bring down their 2023 property tax bill. The 2023 taxes will be assessed by the end of this year then be payable in 2024.

“Next year it will be back to the original assessed value,” said Cook County Board of Review Commissioner Samantha Steele.

The Bears will likely try to avoid a bill that could reach $16 million, based on Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi’s recent reassessment of the land’s value.

The assessor establishes how much properties are worth in Cook County. In the case of Arlington International Racecourse, the assessment jumped from $33 million to $197 million, or roughly what the team paid for the property. The Bears had been pushing to have the property assessed at $37 million, Pioneer Press previously reported.

Months before closing on the sale of the land, the football team proposed a multi-billion dollar redevelopment project for the former horseracing site, including a domed stadium, luxury residences, and business and entertainment districts.

School district leaders wary of the proposed redevelopment’s potential impact on student enrollment, coupled with possible cuts to district revenues due to tax breaks, have pushed to have the property valued at $95 million.

“It is important to know that the 2023 and 2024 assessments have yet to be set by the County Assessor, and no agreement has been reached between the school districts and the Chicago Bears with respect to those two years,” leaders from each of the three districts said in a joint statement.

Hence, negotiations continue between the school districts and the Bears.

Kaegi’s office assessed the former racetrack at about $197 million, roughly equal to what the football team paid for it earlier this year.

If that valuation holds, the team would be expected to pay $16 million in property taxes next year. That is why the Bears have been negotiating with the school districts over future payments, a spokesperson said.

Even with the assessor’s valuation, if the Bears and school districts come to an agreement, as the school districts did with Churchill Downs, the land value could be lowered and, as a result so would the tax bill. This year should mark Churchill Downs’ final payment of taxes on the property.

The Bears will have a chance to appeal the assessor’s valuation of the land for the 2023 tax year in a bid for a lower tax bill, which Steele said she expects them to do, along with many others in Cook County.

“Next year, the Bears are going to be in the position of having to to verify or justify their intent to appeal,” Steele said. “I think next year will be the interesting year.”

The Tribune’s Robert McCoppin contributed.

()