Ask even some proponents of Chicago’s Tax Increment Financing (TIF) system and they’ll admit it has grown unwieldy.
TIF districts now cover half of the city’s acreage, each capturing new property tax revenue in the name of economic development. However, keeping tabs on the millions in off-the-books tax revenue has become virtually impossible, even for folks with an eye for municipal finance.
At a community forum organized by the Independent Voters of Illinois- Independent Precinct Organization (IVI-IPO) last night, some reform-minded Chicagoans—including Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley—explored possible new game plans for bringing sorely needed oversight to the TIF system.
“How can we retool this program with some governance?” long-time TIF organizer John Paul Jones asked. “I’m not sure it will happen unless the community would take control.”
The challenge has long been finding a solution that people across the city can coalesce around. Some initial thoughts are pushing for a TIF moratorium, mayoral term limits, or stricter state-wide legislative controls.
“We have to have everything on the table,” IVI-IPO’s Aviva Miriam Patt said.
Quigley brought some prior insight and few well-worn jokes to the conversation. But mostly he ripped a “rigged” TIF system that’s grown to reward those cozy with Mayor Daley — whether developers, hospitals, universities, or corporations.
It’s Daley appointees, after all, who sit on the oversight boards tasked with regulating the projects. “You simply don’t see them arguing with the mayor over anything,” Quigley said.
As a result, Daley has unfettered access to an account (which netted $555 million last year alone) that basically amounts to a slush fund. The Civic Federation explains the city’s transparency problem:
The amount of property tax dollars earmarked for TIF is not available in municipal budget documents or on individual property tax bills. Rather, this information is only available from Annual Reports of individual TIF districts or the County Clerk’s annual TIF report. In our view, this omission is problematic considering the large sums of taxpayer dollars TIF involves. [...]
The public is not well served by obscuring the total amount of any government’s property tax resources or any other revenue source.
As we’ve noted, the stakes are growing increasingly high and it appears likely that the city will find itself in further fiscal trouble early next year. When an if that happens, you can be sure many are going to be eyeing Daley’s swollen TIF accounts.
Laurie (not verified) on Mon, 12/01/2008 - 18:07
TIFs not only affect the local community, they affect the entire state. When a school doesn't get the money they should be getting from property taxes within the TIF district, the state dips into its pot of funds set aside just for this reason and sends it to the schools. Take out the middle man -- the schools -- and the state is sending money directly to the developers in the TIF district.
If it weren't for TIF districts, the money could be disbursed more equitablly to all the school districts. Instead, people all over Illinois are paying the developers in Chicago and other municipalities that have nothig to do with where they live, and they, nor the state, have any voice in approving or rejecting TIF districts.
Stopping TIFs needs to be doen at the state level. I am doing research and hope to start a grass roots movement down here in southwestern Illinois, where I have seen the definition of blighted stretched far beyond what Pinocchio's nose could grow. I want to start a movement to end TIFs, change them to allow for state oversight, or something in between. My property tax is soaring, and everyone is blaming the schools. I believe one way to help bring them down to a reasonable level is to end the TIF abuses.