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Springfield Finally Delivers in Attempt to Keep Bears in State

Illinois' House passed the so-called "mega-project" bill, which allows the Bears tax certainty they seek for the Arlington Heights stadium, but it's not over.
Gene Chamberlain|
The Bears stadium rendition from Manica, the firm they contracted to design their Arlington Heights facility.
The Bears stadium rendition from Manica, the firm they contracted to design their Arlington Heights facility. | Rendering: Manica

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Chicago Bears

The major breakthrough the Bears have been waiting for in Springfield has finally occurred.

Whether it's a help or hinderance is the question the Bears must answer.

The Arlington Heights stadium seemed closer to reality after the Illinois House of Representatives voted 78-32 in favor of the "megaprojects" bill Wednesday, and now the issue goes to the state's Senate. However, the version of the bill which passed is altered since the original one that was discussed and passed through committee.

How the Bears react to some of the changes included will be the key, but many of those alterations were not applicable to the stadium project itself. The stadium is only a part of a general bill.

According to Christoper Placek of the Arlington Heights Daily Herald, the version of the bill that passed would take a big chunk of what the team pays local governments and distributes it in property tax rebates for homeowners.

If this is the case, it's likely to not only give the Bears pause before giving a go-ahead on the project, but also the local taxing districts. They're unlikely to want to give up their chunk of taxes for the sake of the tax certainty the Bears sought with this legislation.

The Bears have been seeking infrastructure paid for and tax certainty for the foreseeable future with the project. They're hoping to pay taxes more in line with what other Chicago sports teams pay for their stadium and the commercial area around the stadium.

The tax certainty was to be achieved by the state allowing for negotiated rates between the Bears and area taxing bodies, rates that have already been settled on between the local school districts and team. Now those agreements are closer to going into efect.

The problem is the megaproject applies to more than just the Bears. It applies to all construction projects for $500 million or more.

The logic behind opposition to the Bears leaving for the suburbs was best expressed in a comment made by Illinois State 8th District Rep La Shawn Ford to WGN-TV.

“We need to make sure that if the Chicago Bears go to Arlington Heights, that my vote means that we support all of Illinois, but we also protect Chicago,” Ford said. “That means that that property, Soldier Field, there should be some type of support for what happens at that spot.”

The city wants money from the Bears because they'd be leaving.

However, they'll be leaving the state entirely if they don't go to Arlington Heights, and in that case possibly the only money the city would be through the courts. The Bears would need to pay their remaining cost on a Soldier Field lease, as they long ago paid off their portion of the cost of Soldier Field's 2002 reconstruction. However, Cleveland received $100 million from the Browns when they chose to begin building a stadium in the suburbs, so it's possible the Bears will need to pay out something extra to Chicago.

According to the Sun-Times, team owner George McCaskey and president Kevin Warren already met last week with Indiana officials at Hammond's Lost Marsh Golf Club near Wolf Lake. It is the Wolf Lake site that Indiana has put forth as the home for a stadium in their state. The Indiana groundwork is all set already and the work could begin this year.

Indiana's plan is essentially set and the Bears wouldn't own that stadium but wouldn't pay taxes on it and would run it, much like Cowboys owner Jerry Jones does with the stadium in Dallas and the Colts do with Indianapolis' Lucas Oil Stadium. In Illinois, the Bears would own the stadium and pay the taxes.

A deadline hovers over the legislature and governor. The Bears have a virtual meeting scheduled for next week with the NFL's stadium committee to update them on the situation.

While the Bears don't need the NFL to approve a move to a stadium inside their 75-mile area per se, they do want to take advantage of funds the league routinely provides for teams building new stadiums. Getting it without the committee's seal of approval on a stadium would probably be difficult if not impossible.

The state's spring legislative session ends in late May. Expecting the Bears to wait that long before making a decision is tempting fate.

It's been a needlessly long struggle, caused, first by city opposition and Gov. J.B. Pritzker's early lack of support. He has since come around to the Bears' side rather than become the politician with White House aspirations who cost his state an NFL team.

It's entirely possible none of this would have happened had McCaskey not had Indiana as an option. The stadium talk would all be idle discussion while the Bears sat there holding onto the racetrack property without hope for tax certainty.

Now Illinois needs to take the final steps to prove it wants to keep the team within the same state where they were born, back in 1919 as an amateur industrial team for the A.E. Staley Manufacturing Corporation in Decatur.

If not, they'll be the pride and joy of Indiana.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.

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