Tax Increment Finance (TIF) District

The Downtown Mokena TIF District was established by the Village to use as a tool to incent private development in the Downtown area.

A TIF works by freezing the tax base of the properties in the TIF district.  The taxing districts continue to receive taxes from the properties in the district.  However, when value is added to a property in the TIF district and the EAV (Equalized Assessed Valuation) increases, the increase in the tax base is used to incent projects in the district rather than the increase going to the taxing districts.

Not all projects in the TIF district will qualify for this incentive and all projects are evaluated on a case by case basis.

Some of the TIF-eligible costs are:

• Rehab and renovation of private and public buildings
• Property acquisition
• Financing costs
• Professional services, i.e. Architects, Engineering and Legal

For a complete list of all eligible costs associated with Mokena's Downtown TIF District and to see if your project may qualify please contact the Village of Mokena at (708) 479-3900.

Download information regarding the Downtown TIF District.

Building Permit Soft Cost Discounts

Discounts are designed to assist with the cost of general building improvements on structures in Mokena's downtown area.

• 100% discount for remodeling an existing building or tenant space
• 90% discount for new commercial or office buildings
• 80% discount for new mixed-use buildings under 10,000 square feet in size
• 60% discount for new mixed-use buildings

Economic Development For a Growing Economy Tax Credit Program (EDGE)

The Illinois Finance Authority issues tax-exempt Industrial Revenue Bonds (IRB’s) on behalf of manufacturing companies to finance the acquisition of fixed assets such as land, buildings and equipment.  Bond proceeds also may be used for either new construction or renovation.

Qualified Industrial Revenue Bond projects include facilities that are primarily used to manufacture or process tangible products.  The Internal Revenue Code defines all IRB eligibility requirements.

Industrial Revenue Bonds (IRB)

The Village would work with the regional authority to issue tax-exempt revenue bonds on behalf of manufacturing companies to finance the acquisition of assets such as land, buildings and equipment or to construct new or renovate existing facilities. They are limited by federal law to selected purposes, such as manufacturing firms. Interest on tax-exempt bonds is exempt from federal income tax.

Some of the key benefits to IRBs

• Long Term
• Low Interest Rate
• Flexible Terms
• Favorable Terms
• Quasi-State Guarantee

Will County Tax Abatement Program

Will County offers abatement of ad valorem real estate taxes as an incentive to new or retained businesses. Each community develops their specific abatement to the project request on a case-by-case basis. 

Will County’s tax abatement program is done on an application/weighted process. As a result of the application evaluation, a project can receive 50% abatement on improvements for 3, 4 or 5 consecutive tax levy years. Abatement can only apply to improvements done to the property, based on the equalized assessed valuation of the property. 

The Will County Tax Abatement Incentive is administered by the Will County Center for Economic Development.

For more information, please call the Will County Center for Economic Development at (815) 723-1800.