Chicago Bears Lose Appeal on Arlington Park Tax Assessment

The NFL season is over, but the Chicago Bears are still on the losing end of things.

The Cook County Board of Review maintained on appeal its $192 million property tax assessment of the former Arlington International Racecourse, where the Bears had been planning a $5 billion stadium with a surrounding mixed-use district, WMAQ reported.

The decision comes roughly nine months after the team appealed Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi’s valuation, which marked a fivefold increase from the north suburban property’s previous valuation of $33.5 million. The team bought the site for a little over $197 million in February.

As a last resort, the Bears can go through the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board to gain a more favorable assessment, but taking that route could drag on for years due to a backlog of cases. It could also file a complaint in the Circuit Court of Cook County, another option that would likely run on for an extended period, the outlet said.

The team’s best path forward could be to find a resolution with the three Arlington Heights school districts that valued the property at $160 million. That’s $100 million more than the Bears’ own assessment of the vacant former racetrack.

The disagreement centers on an arrangement that would’ve frozen the property’s assessment for up to 40 years, with negotiated payments to local taxing bodies.

“If the Bears want Arlington Heights to happen, I think they’re going to have to budge way further than they want to,” NBC Sports Chicago’s Bears Insider reporter Josh Schrock told the outlet.

Even though the NFL squad has begun demolition at Arlington Heights, it’s possible that the team will scrap the plan entirely if the tax dispute prolongs. It’s becoming increasingly likely that the team stays in the city limits, with reports that it’s exploring a new stadium on the parking lot south of Soldier Field, where the team has played for more than 50 years.

—Quinn Donoghue