After much debate Oct. 13, the La Grange Village Board has formally decided to grant $1 million in Tax Increment Financing funds to the owners of the historic downtown theater.
The 4-2 decision, opposed by Trustees Mike Horvath and James Palermo, will be realized by the purchase of a facade easement and an operating agreement attesting the movie house remains until the village's investment has been repaid, regardless of ownership.
The action, supported by Trustees Mark Kuchler, Mark Langan, Thomas Livingston and Village President Liz Asperger in the absence of Trustee Barb Wolf, directs staff to proceed with the drafting of a final agreement for the public/private partnership with La Grange Theatre owners John Rot and David Rizner. Wolf was clearly against TIF funding for the theater, she expressed in an email read by Asperger.
And although Asperger calmly said the board "obviously (has) different opinions" which were "hashed ... out quite thoroughly," Horvath vehemently suggested it was "reckless to move ahead without construction estimates" for the revised $2.7 million project.
Kuchler, who voted for the plan which he actually came up with as a compromise two weeks earlier even though he was not in favor of using TIF money, said having all of the theater owner's financial data is vital to making sure the village is not overspending.
"I don't think we should be spending surplus funds," he said. "I do think saving the theater is a worthy cause, but we have to be careful with taxpayer dollars."
Before the vote was taken, Asperger observed that there were three trustees who did not support using TIF funds but those who did decided to replace the theater subsidy with $1 million in planned improvements to the La Grange Road and Ogden Avenue intersection.
The board, which delayed action on another $350,000 initially considered part of the request, agreed to reserve that discussion for the future.
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