Freudenberg Household Products Chooses Aurora ... - City of Aurora

Strategic Plan Update
COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL IMPROVEMENTS
Downtown TIF Is Extended
Governor Rod Blagojevich
signed into law Public Act
95-0932, which extends the
Tax Increment Financing (TIF)
district for downtown Aurora for 12
additional years.
City officials and legislators say
the act will help create hundreds of
millions of dollars in redevelopment
efforts for downtown.
“My thanks go out to the
legislators involved with the bill’s
passage,” said Mayor Tom Weisner.
“This allows the city to continue
partnering with businesses to create
jobs for our residents, lower the
residential tax burden, and make
Aurora a more vibrant place to live,
work and play.”
Tax Increment Financing is a tool
cities can use to attract development
in areas where development is
particularly difficult or unlikely.
These areas generally suffer from a
stagnant or declining tax base. To
encourage development and lower
the residential tax burden, cities
pledge to use future gains in tax
revenues generated by a TIF-eligible
development to help pay back a
portion of the cost of development
improvements.
GreenTown Conference brings
Eco-message to Aurora
Aurora hosted and
sponsored “GreenTown:
The Future of
Community,” a conference
promoting cost-effective and
ecologically sustainable
development, with the overall goal
of creating sustainable
communities. The event was held
at the Paramount Theatre and
featured a number of speakers
including Bob Dixson, the mayor
of Greensburg, Kansas. Greensburg
was devastated by an EF5 tornado
on May 4, 2007. He spoke on how
Greensburg is rebuilding using
sustainable initiatives.
The conference held workshops
before and after the conference at
North Island Center. One of two
preconference workshops featured
Brenda Platt, co-director of the
Institute for Local Self-Reliance in
Washington, D.C., who lectured
about municipal and commercial
efforts to combat global warming.
She helped to author Stop
Trashing the Climate, a June 2008
report that endorses zero-waste
approach to protect the climate.
She cited successful examples of
municipal composting.
– 12 –
The bill was initiated by Weisner
and sponsored by Sen. Linda Holmes
and Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, both
of Aurora, and House Republican
Leader Tom Cross, who all have
recognized this extension as an
important economic development
tool for future downtown
development. Other sponsors of the
bill included Rep Mike Fortner (R-
West Chicago) and Patricia Reid
Lindner (R-Sugar Grove). Both
represent portions of Aurora.
This is the second year for
GreenTown and the first for
Aurora. Aurora was chosen as the
host because the city has already
made progress toward more
sustainable and environmental
initiatives, from the City Council
backing the River Edge
Redevelopment Zone to the
environmentally friendly design for
the new police station. Mayor Tom
Weisner, also, established a
sustainability advisory committee,
dubbed ‘Green Team,’ to help
move initiatives across city
departments.