Contingent Sale Agreement Reached on Hubble

District 200 has announced the "sale" of the Wheaton Central/Hubble property.  Signing a contract for purchase is the furthest the District has gotten, but as Lee Corso would say, "not so fast, my friend" (a reference familiar to those who watch his college football analysis on ESPN).  As anyone who has sold a house on a contingency can tell you, the deal isn't done until the contingencies are met.  Also, any tax benefit to the District 200 or Wheaton city budgets will be minimal or non-existent in the near term.

The contract is contingent for at least 7 months, meaning that the contract buyer can walk away from the deal for virtually any reason prior to February 1, 2012.  If District 200 agrees, the buyer can extend the contingency for another 5 months, through about July 1, 2012.  During the period from February through July 2012, the buyer would be able to walk away from the agreement for $100,000.

At the proposed sale price, the property would generate property tax revenue of a little over $67,000 a year to District 200, roughly $1 per year per person in the District, so it is unlikely to have a significant impact on overall district finances.  Moreover, because it would be considered "new construction," even that amount won't decrease homeowners' property tax bills at all; it just allows the District to impose an additional $67,000 in annual taxes.

The District's press release claims the project will generate sales taxes that will benefit "all taxpayers in District 200" (it's not clear to me how taxpayers outside the City of Wheaton would benefit from sales taxes collected by Wheaton).  However, while the contract attempts to restrict the use of a TIF, it does NOT bar the buyer from seeking sales tax rebates.  If the City agrees to a sales tax rebate, the property won't generate any net sales tax revenue to the City for the foreseeable future.