Fair or unfair, this was expected to anybody really paying attention to state and county politics. Downstate and Chicago legislators united for easy PR points from the get-go to oppose any state tax breaks to such a degree that basically everybody covering them down there knew that the Bears bill was DOA.
And the county is run by Chicago, the political establishment for which is all pissed at the Bears for leaving. So they’re not going to get what they want from the county and were obviously going to tax the Bears at the recent property valuation based on the Bears’ own purchase price.
All that leaves in Cook County are the suburbs, and none are individually big enough to remotely give the Bears what they want.
These were all obvious from the start, and yet the Bears went through this whole rigmarole and even bought the land clearly with no plan if literally anything didn’t go unreasonably perfect for them in the realm of public cooperation. It’s just nonsensical.
And sure Bears, look at DuPage County or elsewhere. Then be surprised at NIMBY resistance all-the-while paying Cook County taxes out the wazoo on the now albatross land.