Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – The village of Jerome appears to be going forward with a tax increment finance district, an attorney told the Springfield Public Schools board Monday.

Tony Schuering said the village is willing to meet the district partway. “The current discussion with Jerome is (to pay the district) 25 percent of the revenue that’s generated. So if a dollar comes into the Jerome TIF, the school district is written a check for a quarter,” said Schuering. “They are agreeing to make certain infrastructure improvements that will benefit students that are waiting at bus stops within that area.”

It’s the emphasis on infrastructure that concerns superintendent Jennifer Gill. “TIFs are used for extremely blighted areas,” she said, “and if you drive up and down Wabash, especially on the Jerome side, it seems to be bustling. New things have gone in lately, or very modern strip malls have gone in and are fully at capacity.”

Gill told the board the district really has no say in the matter.