Category Archives: City of Springfield

City of Peoria, City of Springfield, East Bluff

A closer look at comparison TIF

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Looking through the East Village Growth Cell (EVGC) TIF materials the City helpfully provided online, one page in particular caught my attention. It’s the one that gives examples of residential TIF districts in Springfield and Decatur. I decided to do a little more research on Springfield’s TIF to see just how successful it has been. (I’ll look into Decatur at a later date.)

The EVGC website states, “The Enos Park Tax Increment Financing District (TIF) was created in 1997. The TIF District generates approximately $450,000 annually. The TIF District contains both residential and commercial properties; however, it is approximately 90% residential.” The most recent TIF report published by the City of Springfield is the one for 2010, available here.

The Enos Park TIF’s equalized assessed valuation (EAV) in 1997 was $13,838,543. The EAV in 2010 was $17,314,380. So between 1997 and 2010 — 13 years — the EAV increased a total of just $3,475,837. That comes out to an average of 1.9% growth per year. According to the EVGC TIF Draft Redevelopment Plan, the proposed TIF area in Peoria had an EAV of $45,021,720 in 2004 which grew to $49,626,980 by 2009, or $4,605,260 in five years. That comes out to an average of 2.05% growth per year. That means that the East Village Growth Cell is experiencing better growth without any TIF at all than Springfield’s Enos Park TIF has experienced over the last 13 years.

Springfield is unhappy with the performance of Enos Park. Just last year they spent $122,500 on a new “master plan study” that recommends pumping $45 million into the area. They’re looking for additional funding sources as the TIF increment would not be adequate to cover an infusion of that much cash.

City of Springfield

Springfield council rejects payday loan restrictions

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I’ve been following efforts in the city of Springfield to limit the density of so-called “convenience loan” (payday loans, title loans, etc.) establishments because Peoria is trying to do the same thing here.

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The State Journal-Register reports:

The [Springfield city] council in a 5-4 vote killed the proposal that would have prohibited new payday and title lenders from setting up shop within 1,500 feet of existing ones. […] Aldermen who opposed the measure said they didn’t want to discourage business, especially in a slow economy, nor did they want to establish a precedent.

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“If someone comes next week and says, ‘I want the same thing for fast-food restaurants,’ how do we say ‘no?’” argued Ward 10 Ald. Tim Griffin. […]

Ward 1 Ald. Frank Edwards said he has heard from landlords who didn’t like the idea. “I’ve had business owners approach me and ask, ‘Who do we rent to?’” Edwards said.

Apparently Springfield has the same kind of problem with the establishments as we do here in Peoria. In the same way we have a large concentration of convenience loan places on University street between War Memorial and Forrest Hill, Springfield has a large concentration on their MacArthur Boulevard.

The reaction to the decision in the comments section of the SJ-R’s website is revealing. Here are a couple of comments that caught my eye, pro and con (spelling errors in original quotes):

I hate those payday load places… however, I agree with the results of the cities vote. Its a dark road to go down once you start restricting personal businesses. We dont need that!!

If the payday lenders were forced to be equally distributed throughout the county, they might wind up in such places as Leland Grove or West White Oaks Drive. No, City Council likes them right where they are, clustered tightly around the borders of poorer neighborhoods.

I, of course, also hate convenience loan places because I believe they’re loan sharks that prey on the poor and vulnerable. But the Springfield council’s action and some of the comments have got me wondering if the city’s attempt to regulate their zoning is really the best solution. In other words, I agree with the ends, but I’m not convinced this is the best means.

Maybe it would be better to work on getting state legislation passed that would regulate these loan places, the same way banks and credit unions are regulated.

What do you think is the best solution to the problem?

City of Peoria, City of Springfield

Springfield also looking at restricting payday loan establishments

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Peoria recently put a moratorium on opening any more so-called “convenience loan” establishments until they can develop an ordinance to limit their density. Well, it turns out that Springfield is writing just such an ordinance themselves. From the Springfield Journal-Register:

Springfield’s building and zoning commission Wednesday approved a recommendation to limit the placement and numbers of payday and title loan businesses in the city.

The amended proposal, which still has to be approved by the Springfield City Council, calls for a minimum of 1,500 feet rather than 750 feet, as previously suggested, between payday and title loan outlets. It also excludes finance companies from the new limitations.

The terminology involved, and preventing loopholes that would enable payday loan companies to call themselves something else and avoid the restrictions, took up a big part of the discussion during a public hearing Wednesday night.

If they’re not already, the city’s Planning & Growth department might benefit from interfacing with their counterparts in Springfield on this issue — not to make Peoria’s ordinance the same as the capital’s, but just for the purposes of covering all the bases and closing any conceivable loopholes.