South Jax trustees hold special meeting for Love’s update and TIF extension

By Ryne Turke on March 24, 2016 at 8:30pm

South Jacksonville is inching closer to a deal which would bring Love’s Travel Stop and Country Store into the village.

Trustees held a special meeting on Thursday to approve a special use permit for Love’s, which would allow trucks bigger than 1.5 tons on the business grounds.

Village President Steve Waltrip informed trustees that the developer rate on the project could potentially increase from 50 percent to 65 percent.

Code Enforcement Officer Wilbur German expects that rate change to come back to the board next month for discussion. German says the village’s push for a 12-year Tax Increment Financing extension has a lot to do with this deal.

“We have TIF attorney’s and they take into account all the viable costs. They break that down over a period of years. The village TIF has around eight years left, so it would be extremely hard to recoup $2.8 million over eight years. In the course of working on a 12-year extension we also realize it has created more interest.”

German says the 12-year extension would allow South Jacksonville more funds for new businesses.

Waltrip noted that District 117, the Morgan County Airport Authority, Road District 15 and Lincoln Land Community College have given letters of approval for the TIF extension.

The TIF extension must be introduced on a bill and approved by the Illinois Governor before it goes into action.

In other news, Rob Cross is set to take over for Dan Wright as the village’s legal representative from Brown, Hay and Stephens.

Trustee Stacey Pinkerton says the village gazebo needs repairs to several of its posts. Pinkerton hopes the project can pick up next week.