Will County will collect its first $50,000 administrative fee from a business utilizing the Joliet Arsenal Enterprise Zone, after the Finance Committee approved appropriating the payment to the Land Use Department’s budget on Thursday.

The fee comes from RJW Warehousing, which is utilizing the enterprise zone’s sales tax exemption for building materials for a project in Bolingbrook.

“This is the first payment,” explained a county finance official. “The county has the Joliet Enterprise Zone, and companies within that zone that want to do projects, the county has a fee for that.”

County Executive Chief of Staff Mike Fricilone explained that the county had implemented a fee schedule for the first time this year to capture revenue from administering the zone.

“We issue sales tax exemption certificates for building materials,” Fricilone said. “To issue those certificates in 2025, the county is charging an administrative fee, which is allowed by state law, up to $50,000.”

For businesses, the fee represents a small portion of their potential tax savings. Fricilone noted that the company is saving “a little under a million dollars” in sales taxes on building materials in exchange for the $50,000 administrative fee.

The Joliet Arsenal Enterprise Zone covers approximately 20 square miles, stretching from the former Arsenal property in southern Will County north along Interstate 55 into Bolingbrook and Plainfield. Fricilone described it as “one of the most popular in the state” and “maybe the most successful in the state.”

Major businesses in the zone include the Exxon refinery and numerous warehousing operations in the CenterPoint development. In recent years, the zone’s boundaries were expanded to include areas of Bolingbrook and Plainfield after county board approval.

Enterprise zones are economic development tools that provide tax incentives to encourage business investment. Unlike some enterprise zones elsewhere in Illinois, Fricilone noted that Will County’s zones do not include property tax abatements, only sales tax exemptions on building materials.

Companies seeking to use the enterprise zone benefits must first gain approval from the affected municipalities and the enterprise zone board before receiving the tax certificates.

The $50,000 fee will go to support the county’s Land Use Department, with Fricilone noting that since these are not taxpayer dollars and projects are inconsistent, the revenue is not incorporated into the department’s ongoing operating budget.

The committee unanimously approved appropriating the fee payment after discussion about the enterprise zone’s boundaries and operation.