News Local/State

Urbana District 116, Park District, Reach Property Tax Agreement With Carle

By Jeff Bossert
 

The Urbana School District and the Urbana Park District have reached a settlement agreement on property taxes with Carle Foundation Hospital.

The 2007 lawsuit was filed after property tax exemptions on Carle Hospital’s main campus were terminated.

Both Carle and District 116 issued a press release Tuesday evening, following approval of the settlement from both the school board and park board. The agreement requires Carle to seek dismissal of claims against both in a pending lawsuit.

Each taxing body had funds held in reserve pending the resolution. This agreement requires Carle to seek dismissal of its claims against both bodies, allowing both to keep nearly half their share of Carle property tax payments.

Urbana District 116 will retain $5.1 million in the agreement, and return about $5.7 million to Carle.

The Urbana Park District has agreed to pay $1,012,500 over the next 5 years, while retaining just over $930,000. The payments cover taxing years 2004 through 2011.

Urbana School Board President John Dimit said he is "pleased to have put this lawsuit put behind us so that we can focus our human and fiscal resources on our world-class schools, our students and our families."

Urbana Park Board President Michael Walker said "our board chose the certainty of a settlement over the continuing drain of a lawsuit in both time and money so that we can focus on providing quality parks and recreation for Urbana."

Carle Foundation CEO James Leonard called the settlement "a win for the community and a reasonable solution between organizations that have been good partners for decades."

Carle's lawsuit continues with other parties, including the Illinois Department of Revenue, Champaign County Board of Review, Cunningham Township, and the City of Urbana.

Carle filed in similar lawsuit in 2013, applying to 29 properties that were formerly declared tax exempt, placed on the tax rolls in 2007.

More on this story coming Wednesday in Illinois Public Media News.