Explore our content

All types | All dates | All authors
Chicago City Council
PI Original
by Adam Doster
11:15am
Tue Jun 8, 2010
19 comments

Chicago Group Wants Intransigent Lawmakers To Pay "Political Price"

State Budget

Chicago's Organization of the North East is planning a large voter mobilization effort to express their dissatisfaction with Illinois lawmakers for failing to close the state's budget deficit.

Quick Hit
by Adam Doster
12:12pm
Thu Jun 3, 2010

A "Mini-Revolt" On TIF

After months of silence on the issue, it was encouraging to see several Chicago aldermen voice anger in May over the Daley administration's opaque and inequitable use of TIF "porting," in which revenue captured in one tax increment financing district is transferred to projects in an adjacent district. In this week's issue of The Reader, Ben Joravsky describes the 10-member dissent as a "mini-revolt." He also explained why using TIF money for school construction distorts the original intention of the practice:

While fixing or building schools doesn't sound like such a poor use of public money, TIF isn't really intended to pay for projects like schools. In fact, while legal, using TIF to build schools is antithetical to the program. TIF projects are supposed to pay for themselves by subsidizing new development that will fill the coffers with more property taxes. Public schools don't pay property taxes. (And while some schools may help lift surrounding property values, others have been shown to push them lower.)

Quick Hit
by Adam Doster
1:13pm
Thu May 20, 2010

Number Of The Day: $358 million

That's how many tax increment financing (TIF) dollars were spent in Chicago's 2nd Ward (which covers the Loop) between 2004 and 2008, composing one-quarter of the city's total TIF budget during that period. The stat comes from Mick Dumke and Ben Joravksy's latest barnburner on the city's TIF system. For the first time ever, the Reader duo examined how TIF money was spent in every active TIF district. "It's clear," they write, "that the money is not reaching many of the neighborhoods that need it the most."

Click here for the full piece, here for a complete ward-by-ward breakdown, and here for a few pictures snapped by Sam Adams documenting wards that received the most -- and least -- TIF dollars.

PI Original
by Adam Doster
2:19pm
Wed May 19, 2010
33 comments

A Teacher's Fight To Open Up Chicago's TIF Budget

Tax increment financing

A Chicago high school teacher is preparing to sue the city for refusing to answer inquiries about its tax increment financing budget.

PI Original
by Adam Doster
10:35am
Fri May 14, 2010
13 comments

Dowell: "We Really Need To Look At This Whole TIF Issue" (VIDEO)

Tax Increment Financing

After the excitement of last year's TIF reform discussion, it had been a while since we'd heard aldermen take to the council floor to criticize the system. On Wednesday, they did just that.