PEORIA HEIGHTS, Ill. – Peoria Heights is hoping new housing can rebuild a declining population.
In a letter this week, the village stated that since 1970, population has steadily declined from close to 8,000 residents, to fears that the 2030 Census will dip it below 5,000.
Reasons given for the decline include the closure of the Pabst Brewery in the 1980s, a lack of housing stock, and an inability to increase the land available for residential development.
Mayor Matt Wigginton says if the population continues to decrease, federal funding could also go down with it, and the village could lose some relevancy in central Illinois.
“We will potentially lose our appointment to the Greater Peoria Airport Board of Commissioners, our CityLink representation could be at-risk as well,” Wigginton said.
In addition, Peoria Heights High School is seeing declines, down to about 200 students.
To counter it, Wigginton is looking into a two-year old state law, the Special Homestead Exemption for Certain Municipality-Built Homes.
The law allows municipalities to fund the cost to build new housing on land it already owns. For those that move into those homes, Wigginton says they would receive tax breaks.
“It essentially cuts your taxes in half for a period of eight years, and then phased out over two more remaining years,” Wigginton said. “For a decade, you get a tax break on the valuation of your home.”
Wigginton says they are looking for developers to help build the homes, and is hopeful selling the homes will make costs net-zero to the village.
Wigginton says getting one family to move would be a success, but knows there’s about 10-15 lots to build homes on.
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