A study assessing whether Madison Street and North Avenue qualify to be TIF districts should be starting sometime next month.

River Forest trustees recently approved the assessment, which will encompass North Avenue from Thatcher Avenue east to Harlem and Madison Street from Lathrop Avenue west to the railroad tracks. 

Kane McKenna and Associates, whose study helped create the Lake Street TIF in the 1980s, will tackle this effort as well. The cost is not to exceed $17,000. 

The economic development commission that recommended the study to trustees will be able to use the results as part of its efforts to expand the community’s business base.

 “In terms of a larger picture of development, the analysis needs to be done,” said Village Administrator Eric Palm, who added that formation of TIFs is not a foregone conclusion.

A TIF is a specially designated district used as a means of spurring economic revitalization by dedicating the sales tax and additional property tax revenues generated above a certain fixed point for improvements within that area. 

The critical piece is whether the areas qualify. To meet the criteria, a district must have dilapidated or deteriorating property or declining assessments, according to TIF Illinois, a coalition of firms specializing in the use of Tax Increment Financing districts and other business-incentive tools to stimulate economic development.

North and Madison are two important economic development areas defined by the Corridor Study, which outlines the village’s long-range plan for improvement, redevelopment, beautification and overall revitalization.

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