As we mentioned yesterday, Alds. Manny Flores (1st Ward) and Scott Waguespack's (32nd Ward) TIF Sunshine Ordinance is getting a second committee hearing this morning, after being tabled by Ald. Marge Laurino (39th Ward) last month. Today, the Tribune editorial board joined the Sun-Times in supporting the measure. From their editorial, headlined "Time for TIF sunshine":
Talk about a no-brainer. Two Chicago aldermen think the public ought to know what's going on with hundreds of millions of dollars in off-the-books property tax spending. Ald. Manny Flores (1st) and Scott Waguespack (32nd) have been trying for months to get their colleagues on the City Council to pass an ordinance requiring the city to post the details of its tax increment financing deals online. [...]
Flores and Waguespack aren't trying to shut down the TIF districts, which generated $550 million for the city in 2007. What they're worried about is accountability. Because there's so little oversight of TIF spending, those millions are basically a glorified slush fund for Mayor Richard Daley's pet projects.
We'll have more from the committee hearing later today.
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