Arlington Park Tax Deal Proposed Amid 'Twists And Turns' With Bears

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL — With momentum seeming to indicate the Chicago Bears are leaning toward staying in Chicago and building a new stadium there, Arlington Heights officials said Monday night they are hoping some proposed tax cuts might incentivize the team to shift its focus back to Arlington Park.

In the proposal, which was released on the Village's website during the meeting following a public records request, the Bears would pay $6.3 million in property taxes for 2023, $3.6 million for 2024, and anywhere from 3 to 10 percent negotiated increases in the years after that. The proposal is in response to a recent ruling by the Cook County Board of Review about the value of the property, as well as a potential negotiation ploy to get the Bears and three area school districts on the same page.

The Cook County Board of Review ruled last month that the Arlington property is worth $125 million, which is $30 million more than the team's original assessment of the property ($95 million) and $65 million over what the Bears recently said Arlington is worth ($60 million).

At a tax hearing in front of the board in January, the football team and the three school districts located nearby were $100 million apart in their assessments of the property's value. The three school districts — Community Consolidated School District 15 (based in Palatine), High School District 211 (based in Palatine), and High School District 214 (based in Arlington Heights) — valued the property at $160 million, the same appraisal they had in December.

Under the Village's new proposal, the parties would agree on a settlement for an assessed value of $124,691,296, the same number ruled by the CCBOR. At the same time, the Village doesn't believe the Board gave "sufficient consideration" to the status of the property in 2023.

"It's been three years now since I sent a letter to George McCaskey (Bears chairman) inviting him to discuss the possibility of the Bears moving to the Arlington Park site here in our community," Arlington Heights Mayor Tom Hayes said. "I've said all along that it's never been a done deal. Certainly there's been lots of twists and turns, ups and downs, highs and lows over the course of the past three years. It's never been a done deal here in Arlington Heights, and I don't think it's a done deal in the City of Chicago or any other location right now."

On March 11, the Bears announced their focus had shifted from building a new stadium at Arlington Park to remaining in Chicago and constructing one there. The team is also open to contributing more than $2 billion to the project.

"The future stadium of the Chicago Bears will bring a transformative opportunity to our region — boosting the economy, creating jobs, facilitating mega events and generating millions in tax revenue," Kevin Warren, team president and CEO, said in a response to an ESPN story about the change of commitment. "We look forward to sharing more information when our plans are finalized."

Soldier Field, which opened in 1924, is the NFL's oldest stadium. The Bears began playing there in 1971 after leaving Wrigley Field. It has a football game capacity of 61,500 fans, which is the smallest in the NFL. The Bears' lease at Solider Field expires in 2033.

During a presentation at Monday night's meeting, Village Manager Randy Recklaus said Village officials spoke to the Bears after the announcement and "they confirmed their interest in the Arlington Park property as a possible stadium site has not changed, but their current organizational focus is on sites within the city of Chicago." Recklaus said he believes a final decision of where the Bears end up is "far from resolved."

"The Village knows the Arlington Park property is special and unique among sites in the entire region, as supported by the team's purchase of that property," Recklaus said.

In February 2023, the Bears closed on a $197.2 million property agreement to buy the former Arlington Park racetrack and have since demolished a large portion of the site.

"We understand the Bears seeking taxation more in line with comparable properties in the area, but we also are supportive of the school districts' goal of ensuring that there are adequate tax dollars to fund necessary services now and in the future," Recklaus said.

Recklaus said the proposal aims to determine what a fair amount of property taxes should be for Arlington Park before development occurs, as it remains vacant and continues to not generate any revenue.

"I'm one who believes everything happens for a reason and ultimately if something is meant to be, it will be," Hayes said.

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