Tom Tresser

DePaul Wants $103 Million Of Our Dollars

Tom Tresser — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:24:53 +0000

The Mayor has announced plans for hundreds of millions of dollars on tourism-related construction, including 10,000 seat basketball arena for DePaul University near McCormick Place. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the project will require $103 million in public finance and TIF-related dollars. Read DePaul’s description of the project.

When you read the hype, you hear phrases like “world-class destination” and “tourism mecca” being offered as visions for the city. The plan includes giving DePaul naming rights to the new stadium. The President of DePaul, Rev. Dennis Holtschneider said “I’d like to keep our student tuition from rising. Any way we can keep the cost down so I don’t have to put this on student tuition is a wonderful thing.” I’d like to keep my property tax bills down. I’d like to keep our public schools open and hire more teachers. I’d like to expand public transportation, not cut service. Giving DePaul, the largest Catholic university in America over $100 million of public dollars for a private stadium is a gross misuse of public funds.

DePaul’s 2013-2014_budget is expecting revenues of $629,557,366! Why do they need our $103 million for their facility?

It’s another example of…

Coverage Of 4th Ward Illumination

Tom Tresser — Tue, 14 May 2013 21:45:49 +0000

Despite a Bull’s playoff game 50 people came Room 43 on Monday, May 13 for the 4th Ward Illumination. Read the coverage at Progress Illinois. See the presentation and listen to the audio at SlideShare.

4th Ward TIFs To Be Illuminated!

Tom Tresser — Sat, 11 May 2013 19:21:04 +0000

It’s time to shed some light on the 11 TIFs inside the 4th Ward. Join us on Monday, May 13 at 6pm at Room 43 to learn:

- How much property tax is extracted from each TIF inside the ward

- How much money FROM the ward was left in the TIFs at the end of 2011

- What projects inside the ward got funded

You can get the details and RSVP here: http://tinyurl.com/TIF-Forum-May-13.

Pass The Privatization Transparency Ordinance

Tom Tresser — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 21:33:39 +0000

Is your alderman on the list of sponsors of the Privatization Transparency Ordinance”? If so, call them and tell them to get it out of Alderman Mell’s committee and have voted on by the full City Council.

The sponsor is 6th Ward Alderman, Roderick Sawyer. He said, upon introducing this bill in November of 2012, “I do not believe that there are no good privatization deals, I just think we should be clear about which deals are in the best interest of the city and which are not. I have a concern about touting a monetary savings if we haven’t thought about the people that will lose a job, the families that could lose a home and the local businesses that could lose a loyal customer. ”
Download the proposed law here – Privatization Transparency and Accountability Ordinance. Read it for yourself.

If our City Council can’t pass this, they should all be fired in the 2015 municipal elections.

Would You Like That All In Small Bills?

Tom Tresser — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 23:14:18 +0000

The Chicago Tribune reported the obvious today.

And It Stinks

Tom Tresser — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 13:35:49 +0000

Check out this comprehensive article on the Chicago Infrastructure Trust from Next City. I’m the voice of dissent in the piece. But the presence of the ad by Mayer Brown under the picture of the Mayer says it all.

Englewood Neighborhood TIF Illuminated May 4

Tom Tresser — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 23:18:17 +0000

Join us in Englewood on Saturday, May 4 at 10am at the Kelly Library when we Illuminate just one TIF. We will be exposing the Englewood Neighborhood TIF that morning. Details and RSVP via Facebook @ http://tinyurl.com/TIF-Forum-May-4.

To get you in the mood to Illuminate, take this quick multiple choice question.

If you live inside the Englewood Neighborhood TIF, you would see that it is shown on your property tax bill as having “0″ impact – that is, no property taxes taken. However, the TRUE percentage of your property taxes gobbled up by that TIF is:

(a) 16%
(b) 27%
(c) 48%
(d) 68%

We’ll reveal the answer, and many more amazing facts about TIFs, on May 4!

46th Ward Gets Illuminated April 11!

Tom Tresser — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 20:44:19 +0000

Join us at The Peoples Church on April 11 at 7pm when we Illuminate the six TIFs inside the 46th Ward. If the last five TIF town meetings are any guides, then this meeting is going to ROCK! You can get the details and RSVP via Facebook @ http://tinyurl.com/TIF-Forum-April-11.

We invite to learn what TIFs are doing in YOUR community. TO schedule a TIF Illumination for your ward, email tom@civiclab.us.

AREA Chicago Distributes 5,000 Copies Of TIF Poster

Tom Tresser — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 20:26:53 +0000

Thanks to the great folks at AREA Chicago we are distributing 5,000 copies of the TIF Illumination Project’s graphic poster showing the results of our investigation of the 12 TIFs inside the 27th Ward. Awesome! The poster was written by Tom Tresser based on data research lead by Cory Mollet and designed by Carlyn So. The Spring 2013 issue focuses on housing.

8th and 9th Ward TIFs Illuminated

Tom Tresser — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 15:28:35 +0000

Review the presentation deck and listen to the audio (47 minutes) from the TIF Town Meeting held on April 6 at Chicago State University. 9th ward Alderman Anthony Beale came in about half-way through the presentation and stayed to answer a number of heated questions from attendees.

TIFs in the 8th and 9th Wards from Thomas Tresser