Parents and teachers aren't the only Chicago residents fighting to reform the city's tax increment financing (TIF) network. At a City Hall press conference this morning, members of SEIU Local 1 and SEIU Healthcare Illinois/Indiana joined a bevy of community groups and aldermen in urging swift passage of the Sweet Home Chicago affordable housing ordinance, which would set aside 20 percent of TIF revenue collected each year to fund new and rehabbed developments. Watch below as SEIU members and the ordinance's chief sponsor, Ald. Walter Burnett (27th Ward), make the case that the city's shadow budget could bring financial relief to residents who need it the most, particularly those caught up in the foreclosure crisis:

(Full disclosure: The SEIU Illinois State Council sponsors this website)

The ordinance, which organizers first designed last fall, would not force city officials to set aside 20 percent of funds in every TIF district for low-income housing development. Rather, it would establish a firm dollar amount that the city must meet using money from its entire TIF budget. A development would qualify to receive subsidies if 50 percent of the units were deemed "affordable" for low- and moderate-income families earning $37,700 a year or less.

The economic rationale for the bill is obvious. For starters, the need for affordable housing in Chicago is great. Since 2000, Chicago's "housing wage" has increased 34.6 percent. Assuming someone works a full 40-hour work week for the entire year, the typical Chicago household needs to earn $40,600 annually to satisfy the federal definition of "affordability" (no more than 30 percent of a household's income should be spent on rent or mortgage payments, utilities, property taxes, and insurance combined). Hundreds of thousands of Chicago households earn less than that per year, including the 72,000 families who joined the Chicago Housing Authority wait list after it was opened for the first time in 10 years. And the explosion of foreclosures, which is forcing homeowners out of their current residences, will undoubtedly strain the city's rental market in the years ahead.

On top of that, research performed by the Sweet Home Chicago coalition suggests that the development boom would be cost-effective for the city more broadly. If the city spent just $100 million on affordable housing next year, the group estimates the city would create 2,934 full-time jobs -- including 1,417 in construction -- and spur $600 million in additional economic activity.

An ancillary benefit of the ordinance is that it could restore the public's faith in the TIF process, which the Daley administration has shrouded in secrecy -- perhaps because it too often benefits wealthy corporations at the expense of local taxing bodies and, ultimately, the taxpayers themselves.

"Our tax dollars should go to support our communities [and] to support our families," said SEIU Local 1 spokesperson Cindy Boland, "and not  multi-billion dollar corporations." Watch:

Since early June, the Sweet Home Chicago coalition has picked up three new co-sponsors, bringing the total number to 25. More, however, will be needed to override a possible mayoral veto.

The next big action will take place on July 7, when the City Council's Joint Committee on Finance/Housing and Real Estate meets. Advocates are hoping the body considers their measure at that time. Of the 38 members on the joint committee, 17 have agreed publicly to support the ordinance while 21 have stayed mum, meaning a few members -- such as frequent TIF critic Ald. Tom Allen (38th Ward) or living wage sponsor Ald. Fredrenna Lyle (6th Ward) -- would need to vote yes for the bill to advance. 

Stay tuned ...