Partial Success for Bears in Tax Review

The Bears did not gain the tax break they sought with the Arlington International Racecourse property, although there could be some relief.

They also haven't necessarily heard the final word on the topic.

The team had sought an appeal of the tax figures for the property where they want to build a new domed stadium and a report by the Chicago Tribune says they only partially succeeded at bringing down the total to their target.

The Cook County Board of Review has proposed cutting the race track property tax valuation but not close to the level the track's former owners had negotiated with local school districts, according to the Tribune report.

The board's review found there was no evidence to support a hike the assessor's office made in valuation of the site from the old figure of $33 million negotiated when it was a racetrack to $197 million since the Bears bought it.

Instead, the board says the property is worth $138 million, which doesn't exactly coincide with what the Bears believed it should be worth.

This was only a preliminary ruling and it would raise actual taxes on the property from $8 million to close to $12 million. A final board ruling is expected at the end of the month, according to the report.

However, the Bears can still appeal to the state's property tax appeal board or file suit in Cook County courts.

The Bears sought to bring the tax rate down by destroying the grandstand at the track, thereby earning it a "vacant" status for the assessment. However, the board of review also ruled because it wasn't demolished until December of 2023 the property had to be assessed as a commercial property at 25% of market value instead of 10% that vacant land would be.

The Bears are also looking into the possibility of a stadium site in Chicago, possibly in the south parking lot of Soldier Field. However, they don't own that property and they own the racetrack.

There is a chance they could get some funding for a Chicago stadium from the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority but still wouldn't have the benefit of owning the property.

The current Soldier Field opened in 2003. It was built entirely within the outer wall of the old Soldier Field, which opened in 1924.

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