Tax breaks for developers stir debate as e-commerce projects consume land

The COVID-19 pandemic has made debate over incentives for big projects all the more timely and relevant. Stay-at-home directives have led to an increase in e-commerce activity. If some retailers do not re-open, how will that affect schools and other taxing bodies that rely on property taxes for revenue?

“Given the demise of retail development throughout the United States, distribution is the new economic model that consumers have embraced,” Matteson Mayor Sheila Chalmers-Currin said in a statement in response to an inquiry.

Proponents of incentives said they work to balance the need to attract new investment with concerns about giving away too much…Please click here to read Ted Slowik’s column in the Tribune/Daily Southtown.