Tag: Strike

Months of internal emails and texts obtained by the Daily Herald show the extent to which Arlington Heights village officials tried to broker a property tax deal between three school districts and the Chicago Bears after the team shifted its stadium development focus away from Arlington Park.

The behind-the-scenes negotiations led to approval earlier this month of a memorandum of understanding by the elected boards of Arlington Heights and the school districts, ending a dispute over taxes and other issues at the Bears’ 326-acre property.

In March, the Bears appealed a Cook County Board of Review decision on the value of the former racetrack property — which would stick the NFL franchise with an $8.9 million annual tax bill — while publicly announcing a shift in plans to build a domed stadium on the south parking lot of Soldier Field.

Arlington Heights Village Manager Randy Recklaus met with the superintendents of Northwest Suburban High School District 214, Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 and Palatine Township Elementary District 15 at village hall on April 19, according to records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Arlington Heights Village Manager Randy Recklaus

Follow-up text messages between Recklaus and District 214 Superintendent Scott Rowe indicate attorneys for the village and school districts planned to talk about revisions to the memorandum, which village officials first drafted in 2023, before it was shelved amid the Bears-versus-schools tax battle.

Negotiations ramped up in the weeks following revelation of the Bears’ $4.7 billion plan to redevelop the Chicago lakefront with a publicly owned domed stadium anchoring a recreation and cultural campus.

The day of the April 24 press conference where Bears President/CEO Kevin Warren and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson touted the plans, Arlington Heights officials worked with their lobbyists to craft messaging to the public, press and politicians.

“We can tweak after the press conference, but may be good to share something like this with friendly voices out there,” Recklaus wrote in an email to other village administrators, attaching a talking points document to share with legislators and a plan comparison between the Bears’ lakefront and Arlington Park proposals.

The Bears in April unveiled plans for a new publicly owned Chicago lakefront stadium.
Courtesy of Chicago Bears

Though redacted, emails show revisions were made throughout the day by lobbyists Matt Murphy and Anne Schaeffer, Village Attorney Hart Passman, Assistant Village Manager Diana Mikula and Recklaus.

The village manager met again with the superintendents two days later.

He set up meetings with village trustees to review the latest draft of the memorandum the week of May 6, and asked the superintendents to do the same with their school board members.

“How’s it going with the boards?” Recklaus asked Rowe in a May 15 text.

“Going smoothly so far,” Rowe replied. “I have one more board member to meet with and then I’ll be home. I haven’t heard from the other two (school boards) but should get an update on our weekly call tomorrow. I think things are going fine though.”

By the end of the month, the parties sent a copy of the draft document to the Bears with an attached letter from Recklaus and the three superintendents.

Written communications indicate Passman — the village attorney — worked with lawyers for the Bears and schools on revisions to the proposed settlement.

By late July, there appeared to be a breakthrough in talks.

“On behalf of the school districts I wanted to send a message sharing that we are happy to be reengaging on the MOU and have had productive discussions with the village since we last spoke,” Rowe wrote in a July 30 email to the Bears’ Warren. “We are hopeful that we can get together in the near future and begin building our path forward together in Arlington Heights. Best of luck with the start of the season!”

Warren replied the next day.

“Scott: Thank you. Best, Kevin”

The parties met at District 214’s Arlington Heights headquarters on Oct. 7 to put a bow on the agreement. Bears Chairman George McCaskey told Mayor Tom Hayes the football club’s leadership was meeting internally Nov. 20 to discuss the proposal, one text message shows.

Village and school district officials learned two days later Bears brass were on board.

“Did you get the good news,” Recklaus texted Rowe.

“I did! Fantastic!” Rowe replied.

The Bears are still appealing the 2023 tax bill to the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board, but the settlement would lower the annual bill to $3.6 million from 2024 at least through 2027. It could remain that amount if the Bears submit formal plans seeking village zoning approvals for a new stadium and then apply for building permits to begin construction, under terms of the deal.

While Bears officials have said they are now aligned with the village and schools on a framework for potential future development planning, financing and property tax certainty at Arlington Park, they’ve reiterated their focus is trying to build a new stadium on the Chicago lakefront.

In an interview Thursday, Recklaus characterized the negotiations process spanning nearly two years as a “marathon not a sprint” during which multiple iterations of the agreement were considered.

“There were a lot of times where I thought we were basically done,” he said. “There’ve been enough instances where we almost had it done that I was not going to accept it until we got the final word, and we did.”