Morris, Grundy, Minooka agree to study future improvements

Brisbin Road, north of Interstate 80, up to Sherill Road, is now county highway, said Mayor Richard Kopczick. Previously it was a township road. With that, and three different municipalities having jurisdiction of the four corners of Brisbin Road and U.S. 6, it was decided to come up with a plan for financing future improvements, he said.

Brisbin Road, on the east side of U.S. 6 is Channahon and Minooka's jurisdiction; Morris has all of the west side.

A funding analysis will be done so future developers will have to help with future maintenance of that road.

"It's a new road now, but the study will go 30 to 40 years into the future," said Kopczick, during which time lane increases are expected.

The county will pay 50 percent of the study, which is up to $39,200. Morris and Minooka will each pay 25 percent, which is up to $19,600 each.

The Morris City Council approved this Monday.

In other business, the council declared surplus revenue in its Tax Increment Financing District Special Tax Allocation Fund and authorized the surplus to be paid to its taxing bodies by the Grundy County Treasurer's office.

This is done annually as part of the city's TIF agreement.

A TIF district freezes the assessed value of properties in the district. Any tax money from increases in value of those properties then goes into a special fund to be used to improve properties in the district.

With frozen property values, the schools receive less than if property values were up to date, but they receive more state aide this way.

In 2009, Morris was given a 12-year TIF extension by the state. As part of that, a new agreement was made with the schools giving the schools up to 50 percent of the TIF funds to make up for dollars lost from frozen property values. If it takes less than 50 percent to make up the schools’ loss, the remaining amount is declared surplus and divided among all of the city’s taxing bodies, which also includes the schools.