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Beyond having the most expensive project in human history in our backyard, Elk Grove Village residents and business owners face additional financial impacts that would have to be taken on by all property owners. In announcing the plans for O'Hare expansion, discussion called for studying a ring road to connect the Northwest (1-90) and TriState (1-294) tollways. The ring road, which has been an integral part of the overall roadway network for linking 1-290, the Tri-State and Elgin-O'Hare Expressway since the early 1980s, would help compliment the yet to be finished Elgin-O'Hare Expressway. The likely location of the ring road would place it somewhere through the Elk Grove Business Park, resulting in the loss of numerous Elk Grove Village businesses. Although Mayor Daley has stated that the ring road will be dealt with when the time comes, this is an issue which needs to be dealt with up front. This issue has the potential to greatly affect the livelihood of all Elk Grove Village residents. The removal of businesses in Elk Grove Village would create decreased property and sales tax revenues to local governments. In order to maintain the Village's current level of services, the remaining businesses and residential property owners would see an increase in their property tax rates to off-set the expected millions of dollars in revenue shortfall. Our estimates show that property taxes would increase by the following amounts if the below were to occur:
The hardest hit by the loss of property tax as a result of the ring road will be the local school and park districts, who rely heavily on the property tax revenue generated in the Business Park for their operations. The increase in their tax rates could be much higher than those of the Village. Moreover, eliminating businesses has a negative effect on service businesses in Elk Grove Village. Restaurants, hotels, office supply stores, printers, warehousers, and distributors all function to serve existing businesses in the area. When businesses leave, the existing service businesses experience a proportionate financial hardship. Additionally, without an economic engine like a third airport in the south suburbs, communities in northern Cook County will continue paying higher taxes to support southern Cook County suburbs. The financial relief produced by the construction of a south suburban airport could be lost if the O'Hare expansion is permitted to move forward. Finally, Chicago's plans do not call for the much needed full interchange at 1-90 and Elmhurst Road, which is supported by the Northwest Municipal Conference and its fifty community members, and the Elk Grove Chamber of Commerce. This interchange is vital to the long-term economic vitality of our region. Instead, the Chicago plan reflects a full interchange at Lee Street, precluding the construction of the Elmhurst Road interchange and its future connection to the ring road. Efforts need to facilitate our Business Park traffic, not traffic to the proposed Rosemont casino.
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