Review of Fiscal and Economic Impact Study

As part of the rezoning process, the Village of Carpentersville requires that developers provide a fiscal impact study projecting the fiscal impacts of a proposed project on the Village and other major taxing bodies, such as the school district.

SB Friedman was engaged by the Village to review a developer-provided fiscal and economic impact study for a proposed Walmart Supercenter in the Village. We critiqued key revenue and expense assumptions, including estimates of property (including the impact of an existing Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district on cash flows), sales, utility and other taxes, costing methodologies used, and other key assumptions. The developer also provided an economic impact analysis of the project outlining projected growth in employment and overall economic activity that would result from the project.

Broadly speaking, we concurred with the developer’s study, which projected that the project would produce positive fiscal impacts to the Village in the near term, and be fiscally neutral for the other taxing bodies during the life of the TIF district.

Results: Our memorandum was included in the proposed rezoning packet as part of the background documentation. The Wal-Mart store opened in June 2016.