[font=Verdana]Lake Forest, IL [font=Verdana]City Council approved the ordinance establishing the tax at its regular meeting Monday night. The vote was 7-0[/font][/font]

[font=Verdana]Lake Forest[/font][font=Verdana] residents who want to tear down a home and rebuild will have to pay a new $10,000 demolition tax when they apply for the permit, effective Feb. 16. [/font]

[font=Verdana]The ordinance also calls for a $5,000 per unit demolition tax on multi-unit dwellings, to be no less than $10,000 total. [/font]

[font=Verdana]The funds received by the city will be split evenly, with 50 percent going to the city's general fund for road and infrastructure improvements, and 50 percent to be put into a special fund to be established for affordable housing within the city. [/font]

[font=Verdana]Twenty teardowns[/font]

[font=Verdana]"I expect that we'll probably be at about 20 teardowns for the year," said Director of Community Development Cathy Czerniak Tuesday. "If you look back historically, the city normally saw about eight demolitions a year. That was prior to the current trend of demolitions we see. [/font]

[font=Verdana]"Since 1997, we've seen that number creep up and we're now between about 15 and 20 per year. We do expect to feel continued pressure for teardowns based on (the trend in) neighboring communities." [/font]

[font=Verdana]The dormitories at [/font][font=Verdana]Barat[/font][font=Verdana]College[/font][font=Verdana] will be subject to the $5,000 per unit tax unless developer Bob Shaw complies with the inclusionary housing ordinance and sets aside units within his development at an affordable level. Shaw has said he intends to comply with the inclusionary ordinance. [/font]

[font=Verdana]Payment of the demolition tax will be due before the city issues a demolition permit to the applicant. [/font]

[font=Verdana]"Anyone who has already submitted and filed will be excluded," City Attorney Vic Filippini said Monday night. [/font]

[font=Verdana]But anyone who has not informed the city by Feb. 15 that they will be tearing down the main dwelling on their property will be subject to the tax, Filippini said. [/font]

[font=Verdana]There are two main exceptions to the tax that the council hopes will curtail someone purchasing a home specifically for a teardown that they intend to rebuild and resell quickly for financial gain. To address that issue, homeowners who have lived in their home at least three years prior to the teardown application and will stay in the home at least three years after they rebuild are exempt from the tax. [/font]

[font=Verdana]Damage exemption[/font]

[font=Verdana]Another exemption would apply if the home suffers extensive damage due to "force majeure," or an act of God or other factors beyond the owner's reasonable control and ability to remedy. [/font]

[font=Verdana]Homeowners who fully intended to stay in the rebuilt home for the three-year period after its completion but must move as a result of a job transfer, for example, will have the right to appeal the tax. Appeals will be accepted within 30 days after notification of the tax amount, the ordinance says. [/font]

[font=Verdana]One of the main reasons the City Council established the tax was to "offset in part the costs to the city and its residents arising from the reduction of affordable housing units in the city," the ordinance reads. [/font]

[font=Verdana]Highland Park[/font][font=Verdana] imposed a similar tax in May 2002 and has seen no reduction in teardowns as a result, Highland Park Housing Planner Betsy Lassar said. [/font]

[font=Verdana]In fact, teardowns in [/font][font=Verdana]Highland Park[/font][font=Verdana] "have steadily increased since the demolition tax was initially adopted," she said. [/font]

[font=Verdana]Highland Park[/font][font=Verdana] demolitions numbered: [/font]

[font=Verdana]* 58 in fiscal year 2002 [/font]

[font=Verdana]* 61 in fiscal year 2003 [/font]

[font=Verdana]* 71 in fiscal year 2004 [/font]

[font=Verdana]Lassar's job as housing planner also is funded by the demotion tax, she said.(Well there ya go!)[/font]