INCENTIVES
Local Incentives
Carroll County intends to provide economic incentives which will create new job opportunities and decrease unemployment; resulting in a better environment for the people that live here. Carroll County offers property tax abatement on improvements in the enterprise zone that have been applied for. For more information, please click here, then click the Economic Development page.
The rolling hills of Jo Daviess County not only offer a great lifestyle adventure, but also many business opportunities. For more information and incentives for Jo Daviess County, please click here, then click the Applications & Forms page.
Whiteside County offers property tax abatement on improvements in the enterprise zone as well as sales tax exemption from retailers with an Enterprise Zone Sale Tax Certificate. For more information, please click here.
TIF Districts
Tax Increment Financing (TIF) is a financing technique that cities may use to pay for public improvements such as land assemblage, building demolition, utilities, streets, and sidewalks. Property owners in the project area do pay their full share of taxes. Taxes generated by the increase in assessed valuation - the tax increment - go into a special allocation fund used to pay the bonds, which financed the public improvement costs. This financing method is not a tool to speculatively prepare for development - tax increment financing requires an advance commitment by a developer to a project.
The following communities have established TIF districts:
Jo Daviess County - East Dubuque, Elizabeth, Galena, Stockton
Carroll Count - Lanark, Milledgeville, Mt Carroll, Savanna
Whiteside County - Fulton
Enterprise Zone
An enterprise zone is a specific area designated by the State of Illinois in cooperation with a local government to receive various tax incentives and other benefits to stimulate economic activity and neighborhood revitalization.
All Enterprise Zone projects must be certified by the zone administrator prior to start of construction. Building permits are required; there is an application fee.
Betty J. Steinert, Enterprise Zone Administrator
Phone: (815)772-5175
Fax: (815)772-5249
Email: bsteinert@whiteside.org
Information courtesy of Betty Steinert, Whiteside County Enterprise Zone and Economic Development
The following entities have established Enterprise Zone districts:
Carroll County, Jo Daviess County, Savanna, Thomson, Mt Carroll, Milledgeville, Fulton, Hanover, East Dubuque, Savanna Depot Park
Savanna Depot Park
The Jo-Carroll Depot Local Redevelopment Authority (LRA) shall be the community’s point of contact during the reuse/redevelopment process. As we seek economic development at the depot, the LRA shall manage, market and promote early and long-term job creation and land utilization. Our long term goal is to provide economic growth, quality employment and improve property values in consideration of the surrounding environment for Carroll and Jo Daviess counties in Northwestern Illinois.
Incentives available at the Savanna Depot Park include the following:
Jo-Carroll Enterprise Zone – incentives include: Investment Tax Credit; Sales Tax Deduction- EZ Machinery and Equipment Sales Tax Emption for qualifying business; Utility Tax Exemption- Jobs Tax Credit; Property Tax Abatement- Dividend Deduction.
Foreign Trade Zone #271 – located at Savanna Depot Park (2,950 acres of land and buildings) Operated by Illinois International Trade Centers - http://jo-carrollftz271.com
Foreign Trade Zones (FTZs) were created in the United States to provide special customs procedures to U.S. plants engaged in international trade-related activities. Duty-free treatment is accorded items that are processed in FTZs and then re-exported, and duty payment is deferred on items until they are brought out of the FTZ for sale in the U.S. market. This helps to offset customs advantages available to overseas producers who compete with domestic industry.
Goods entering FTZs are not subject to customs tariffs until the goods leave the zone and are formally entered into U.S. Customs Territory. Merchandise that is shipped to foreign countries from FTZs is exempt from duty payments. This provision is especially useful to firms that import components in order to manufacture finished products for export.
HUBZone (all of Carroll County)
A SBA (small business association) program for small companies that operate and employ people in Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZone). The designation is advantageous for companies seeking governmental contracts. Carroll County is qualified through June 2011. The Savanna Army Depot qualifies separately as a HUBZone, due to BRAC.
Upper Mississippi River International Port District (Jo Daviess and Carroll Counties)
Larry Russell
