Joint Review Board

MINUTES MEETING OF THE JOINT REVIEW BOARD CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT AREA CITY OF DEKALB SEPTEMBER 7, 2018 The Joint Review Board (JRB) of the City of DeKalb, Illinois convened on Tuesday, September 7, 2018 in the Council Chambers of the DeKalb Municipal Building, 200 South Fourth Street, DeKalb, Illinois. The meeting was called to order at 1:05 p.m. ROLL CALL Roll was recorded by Economic Development Planner, Jason Michnick, and the following members of the JRB were present: • Public Member, Tim Hays • DeKalb Township, Jennifer Jeep Johnson • DeKalb Park District, Heather Collins • City of DeKalb, Mayor Jerry Smith • Kishwaukee Community College, Bill Nicklas • DeKalb Community School District 428, Cynthia Carpenter • DeKalb County, Gary Hanson Also present were City Attorney, Dean Frieders; Community Development Director, Jo Ellen Charlton; Interim City Manager, Molly Talkington; and District 428 Attorney, Gino Galluzzo. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Draft minutes from the August 7, 2018 and September 4, 2018 meetings of the Joint Review Board were provided prior to the meeting. A motion was made by Mr. Hanson to approve the minutes, seconded by Mr. Nicklas. The motion was approved unanimously. PUBLIC COMMENT Mr. Jamie Craven, the Superintendent for DeKalb Community School District 428, respectfully requested that the Joint Review Board suspend the meeting until further notice so that the various taxing districts would be able to continue working in good faith to review the previous allocation of past TIF funds and develop a set of criteria to move forward. Although the Joint Review Board has met multiple times in the past month, he does not believe that the Joint Review Board is in a position to make a positive recommendation. Mr. Craven requested that at least 30 days pass before reconvening the Joint Review Board. Mr. Mark Charvat questioned the membership of Mr. Tim Hays as a public member of the Joint Review Board, and specifically where it states that a resident of the proposed district Joint Review Board Meeting Minutes September 7, 2018 Page 2 of 2 must serve as the public member. Planner Michnick addressed Mr. Charvat’s question and stated that it is included in the Illinois TIF Act. Mr. Charvat also stated that there has been considerable research that Tax Increment Financing does not benefit communities as a whole, and the residents of DeKalb are not concerned with downtown revitalization. Ms. Bessie Chronopoulos stated that many questions and concerns have been raised during the recent Joint Review Board meetings, and that the City staff has not adequately kept City Council or the Joint Review Board informed. Ms. Chronopoulos also stated that it is her belief that the Joint Review Board should meet more frequently. She also stated that the City has regularly charged between $500,000 and $800,000 annually for administrative fees to the TIF funds and questioned where that money went into the budget. She encouraged the Joint Review Board to hold fast on getting the information and investigate alternative economic development tools such as Enterprise Zones. DISCUSSION, DELIBERATION, AND RECOMMENDATION Mr. Nicklas made a motion to adjourn the meeting to a time and date to be certain. The motion was seconded by Ms. Carpenter. The Joint Review Board discussed the format and process for disseminating information and scheduling a future meeting. It was determined that City staff would reach out to Joint Review Board members to schedule future meetings and discussions. The motion was approved unanimously. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 1:28 p.m. ________________________________ Respectfully Submitted by Jason Michnick, Economic Development Planner Approved by the Joint Review Board: November 9, 2018.