A rendering of a proposed Bears stadium in Arlington Heights. Rendering courtesy of Chicago Bears
By Brian Costin | Americans for Prosperity-Illinois
The Chicago Bears are growling for property tax relief in their quest to build a new stadium-anchored development in suburban Arlington Heights. While no one should get special treatment, the Bears have a real point about high taxes. The property taxes in Cook County are a monumental problem for businesses of all sizes, and the situation is spiraling out of control.
A recent study on the property tax burden in the largest city of all 50 states showed Chicago has the second highest commercial property tax rate at 3.78% of property value. Only Detroit’s and Chicago’s effective tax rate is more than double the national average of 1.86 percent.
In some places in Cook County, it’s even worse. It was announced recently the Bears property in Arlington Heights was valued at $95M, and the one-year tax bill will be $7.8M – or an astronomical 8.2 percent of property value.
The Chicago Bears will be paying taxing bodies more to not play in Arlington Heights this year than they will be paying the Chicago Park District to play at Soldier Field. The $7.8M Arlington Heights property tax bill is more than the $6.48M in rent payment for the use of Soldier Field.
Paying 4.4 times the average national commercial property tax rate is inhospitable for most companies, it may be even more damaging for a company like the Chicago Bears. The Bears haven’t paid property taxes on their current Soldier Field home in over 50 years, as it is a publicly owned stadium.
Now, the Chicago Bears are a fast-growing company valued at $5.8B. The $7.8M property tax burden may be small in comparison, but when it comes to building a state-of-the-art stadium valued at $2.5B, the Bears might be looking at paying $205M in property taxes each year. That’s more than the Bears spent on their entire NFL playing roster in 2022.
This is not just a Chicago Bears problem. The burden of Cook County’s high commercial property taxes falls heavily on local businesses, hindering their ability to grow, expand, and hire new talent. For small and medium-sized enterprises, this can be especially debilitating, as they often lack the resources to absorb these increased costs. Consequently, many businesses have had to downsize, relocate, or even shutter their operations altogether, leaving a trail of job losses and economic stagnation.
More here.
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