Arlington Heights Awaits Bear Response to Racetrack Tax Proposal

The Arlington Heights Daily Herald reported the Bears submitted a response to a proposed solution for the tax standoff over the racetrack taxes. Could it mean a shift in stadium outlook?

This stadium rendering for the lakefront isn't history yet, but the Bears have received and have responded to a tax settlement proposal in Arlington Heights. / Chicago Bears video

The state of limbo Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker put the Bears in after calling their plan for a domed lakefront stadium a "non-starter" may still exist.

Or it may not.

According to a report by the Daily Herald's Christopher Placek, the Bears have submitted a written response to a proposed tax settlement with Arlington Heights regarding the former Arlington International Racecourse property the team owns. Their answer is unknown as yet.

Whether accepting the settlement or negotiating further to reach one would mean a complete reversal for the team's stadium plans is unknown but at least the momentum appears to have changed like it does on any given Sunday after a turnover.

Only two months ago the ball looked like it was on the 1-yard line and the Bears were going in on their plans for a domed $4.7 billion stadium in the south parking lot of Soldier Field. Pritzker and the state legislature said there is no appetite in the state for public funding of such a project. The Bears were committing more than half of the funds required but were going to need public funds for infrastructure improvement and wanted to use almost $1 billion in bonds from the Illinois Sports Facility Authority.

At the time, Bears president Kevin Warren had said their sole target was the lakefront project, putting the racetrack onto the back burner because of a continuing feud with three school districts and Cook County over both future and back taxes for the racetrack property. They had filed an appeal with the county over back taxes and the tax rate prior to announcing the Soldier Field project.

Placek reported Arlington Heights mayor Tom Hayes said after a proposal submitted to the Bears received, they would find "...that the road is going to be much easier than we found in past months" regarding a racetrack site stadium.

The newspaper did not report what the agreement proposal included.

The racetrack grandstand was torn down by the Bears last year in an attempt to lower their tax rate but the county said it didn't come soon enough to affect their taxes for 2023.

The school districts involved in the taxing situation are Northwest Suburban High School District 214, Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 and Palatine Township Elementary District 15.

“There's still issues to be resolved, but I think we're in a much better place than we were, say, three, four, six months ago,” the Arlington Heights major told Placek.

Until the Bears' response is known, their emphasis on the lakefront site must still be assumed. Even if they accepted the tax solution, it might not guarantee they're building an Arlington Heights stadium as they still would need infrastructure solutions much as they would in Chicago.

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