Will New Tax Cut Compromise For Arlington Stadium Deal Bring The Bears To Their New Home?

When Kevin Warren spoke about the plans for building the proposed complex in Arlington Height when he became the Bears' President, one of the most important issues he wanted clarity on was taxes for the Arlington property. On Monday, village officials announced a new proposal for the team.

The Cook County Tax Assessors Office has attempted to charge the Bears more than $16 Million in taxes for the vacant property, ultimately leading Bears brass to their change of heart. Recently, Keven Warren announced a plan to partially fund a publicly owned domed stadium on the Chicago lakefront. Almost immediately the obnoxious group Friends of the Park voiced their opposition to the plan.

The Arlington Proposal For Tax Cuts Revealed

The Village board certainly did their homework. The plan calls for the team to pay $6.3 Million for the 2023 tax year and $3.6 Million for 2024. An increase of 3-10% based on market conditions over the next three years is built into the plan.

Village Manager Randy Recklaus announced the plan during the village board meeting on Monday, March 18. He brought up tax figures assessed to other Chicago Sports venues in his remarks during the meeting. In 2021, $6.1 million at the United Center in Chicago and $2.7 million at Wrigley Field. He also added the tax bill in 2021 for Sofi Stadium was $8.8 Million, a far cry from the more than $16 Million tax assessors in Cook County tried to charge the Bears for the Arlington property.

Tax Certainty Is What Warren Wanted. Will This Be The Incentive Needed to Move Forward In Arlington Heights?

Five years of tax certainty is what Bears management wanted to move forward with their grand plan to build a sports complex and entertainment center. The plan offered this week does exactly that.

Friends of the Park told the Bears the stadium should not be constructed south of Soldier Field, offering the vacant property further south where the Michael Reese Hospital once stood. One of the concerns FOTP has with the project is reducing the public park area in the Museum District. A spokesman for FOTP dared to call the Waldren Deck a "Park." The group should ask the City to turn the vacant land at the Michael Reese site into public parkland and keep their noses out of the stadium plans.

If you recall, this is the same group that interfered with the Lucas Museum plans. The Lucas Museum would have brought jobs and much-needed tax revenue to the city. That project bolted to the Los Angeles area after attempting to deal with FOTP.