Proposed property tax incentive legislation intended to keep the Chicago Bears from moving to Indiana might maintain local pride, but perhaps not at a price that’s worth it for the average Illinois homeowner, a new report from Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas’ office suggests.
The benefits are “clear” for big companies like the Bears but “murky” for most taxpayers, according to a 12-page analysis released Tuesday that steers clear of policy recommendations but offers plenty of reason for skepticism around the megaprojects bill being haggled over in Springfield.
“Megaproject property tax savings could total billions of dollars — money that would otherwise go to fund schools and other local governments,” the report says.
“Huge real estate projects can create jobs, boost sales tax revenue and provide other benefits to their surrounding communities. But property tax breaks for megaprojects would for decades severely limit one key goal of economic development: expansion of the property tax base that provides relief to other taxpayers who get no tax certainty,” it says.
Pappas’ report evaluates the bill that passed the Illinois House last month but will need major changes to have any hope of passing the Illinois Senate before the spring legislative session concludes. Lawmakers have until midnight Sunday to get a bill to the end zone.
Researchers from the treasurer’s office looked broadly at the megaprojects concept that Gov. JB Pritzker has long championed outside the context of the Bears’ stadium saga. Dozens of other states have such laws in place that allow companies to negotiate discounted payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT) instead of their full property tax bills to local taxing bodies, as long as they’re investing in massive developments.
“Large-scale projects can create jobs and broader economic opportunity, but they also give communities the ability to shape agreements around local priorities — whether that is infrastructure improvements, workforce commitments, public safety investments, or other community benefits,” a spokesperson for Pritzker’s office said in a statement. “Gov. Pritzker will continue making sure taxpayers remain at the forefront of these discussions and that Illinoisans get the strongest deal possible.”
Megaproject incentives “would have significant economic effects well beyond the northwest suburbs,” Pappas’ researchers found, noting five Chicago developments under construction last year that reached the $100 million threshold for the potential tax breaks.
While there’s no comparable property in the state, Pappas’ office estimated the Bears would be on the hook for a $53.2 million property tax bill on an Arlington Heights dome, if assessed at a conservative $675 million market value.
Freezing the current bill of less than $4 million on the Arlington Heights site plus a hypothetical $10 million PILOT, Pappas’ office estimated the team would get “an annual tax break of more than $39 million — or more than $1.5 billion over 40 years.”
By comparison, Old Orchard Mall in Skokie paid a $17.6 million bill in 2024 while producing a bigger economic impact than a stadium would, according to Pappas’ office.
“[F]or many Chicagoans, the Bears are an iconic presence, some might say as much an emblem of the city as Willis Tower,” the report says. “Willis Tower paid $50 million in property taxes in 2024.”
The team has pegged their potential tax bill beyond $150 million, which they say makes it financially infeasible for them to remain in Illinois as they’ve narrowed their choices to Arlington Heights and Hammond.
Indiana lawmakers are trying to lure the team to Hammond with a significantly sweeter taxpayer-funded deal for the Bears, who have committed to covering $2 billion wherever they end up breaking ground.
Pappas’ office suggested a Hoosier dome that’s closer to downtown Chicago than Arlington Heights is wouldn’t be the end of the world.
“[A] stadium in Hammond would still produce economic benefits for Chicago and the state of Illinois — with Indiana taxpayers picking up the $1 billion tab to subsidize the development,” the report says. “And the team would still be named the Chicago Bears, so bragging rights would still be intact for the Chicago area just as they are for New York City even though the New York Giants and New York Jets play in New Jersey.”
Mayor Brandon Johnson is making a late push in Springfield to scuttle the Bears’ path out of Soldier Field. Pappas has said she’ll run for mayor next year.
Her office questioned whether discounted taxes and PILOT payments made by developers would “be enough to cover the increased costs of education and other local services made necessary by their projects.”
“The bill does include provisions that require projections of resulting additional costs to schools and mandates that districts be compensated, but there is nothing that guarantees similar analysis of impacts on non-school government services, such as new infrastructure, police and fire protection, trash pickup and inspections,” the report says. It cites the extensive catalog of academic studies that have determined public subsidies for stadiums are generally raw deals for taxpayers.
“If the frozen payment and special payment are not high enough to fund those added services, other taxpayers, particularly homeowners, would have to make up the difference,” the report says. “That, in effect, would be an additional subsidy paid by people who live in Arlington Heights and potentially any other community that is home to a megaproject.”