South Central Reporter

Macoupin County conservative activist Christopher Hicks puts much of the blame for Bridgeview’s "outrageous” municipal debt on a poorly conceived stadium project pushed by longtime Mayor Steve Landeck nearly 15 years ago. 

“The amount of debt Bridgeview has amassed is outrageous,” Hicks told South Central Reporter. “Palos Heights and Mokena have comparable population sizes and not even a fraction of the amount of debt Bridgeview has. I think the village needs to curb its spending and cut its taxes to reduce the debt."

As of Dec. 31, 2018, Bridgeview's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR), filed on July 5, shows the debt at $321 million. Much of that is due to the building of SeatGeek Stadium, then called Toyota Park, in 2006. Without the stadium debt, Hicks said, Bridgeview's debt profile would look more like those of neighboring Palos Hills and Mokena.

Macoupin County conservative activist Christopher Hicks

The latest financial filing for Palos Hills (pop. 17,410) puts its debt at $19.2 million. Mokena (pop. 20,305) is 25 percent larger than Bridgeview (pop. 16,335), with a debt of $5.3 million.

SeatGeek Stadium was championed by Landeck and given the go-ahead by voters in 2005, at the height of the nation’s real estate bubble. The hope was to create local jobs and grow Bridgeview’s tax base. Since the stadium opened in 2006, however, it has badly underperformed. 

The marquee tenant, the Chicago Fire soccer club, consistently ranks at the bottom of U.S. pro soccer rankings in performance and attendance. Fire management recently announced it will move out of SeatGeek Stadium and the team's home games will be played "in other Chicagoland sports venues" to try to boost attendance.

The Chicago Red Stars, the national women’s soccer franchise, will continue to play at SeatGeek Stadium. SeatGeek Stadium also hosts concerts and other events. 

"The village of Bridgeview can't afford taxpayer-funded stadiums because they're running a $320 million deficit," Hicks said. "They cannot be taking on these massive taxpayer-funded projects. They need to cut their taxes as well so that more citizens will be encouraged to stay in the community and they'll be able to pay off their debts." 

In addition to being mayor since 1999, Landek was appointed to the Illinois State Senate in 2011.

"Legislators should introduce a law making it plain and clear that a legislator cannot hold any other elected seat," said Hicks. "I think more of the responsibility falls upon the voters and other township members as another reason why we need to elect people that are going to cut government spending and bureaucracy to stop disastrous projects like the projects Bridgeview has taken on."

Because of Bridgeview’s high debt load, the village has been forced to raise taxes. The average homeowner paid $490 more in taxes in 2018 than in 2017. Struggling under all that debt, Bridgeview is technically insolvent, yet it cannot file for bankruptcy without permission from the Democratically controlled state legislature.

In March 2017, Standard and Poor’s downgraded Bridgeview’s credit rating to junk level, citing the debt issued to build the stadium as one reason. The other reason was pension debt, which accounts for 20 percent, or $63 million, of the village's debt.