The TIF Illumination Project has reviewed all 151 annual reports of the city’s Tax Increment Financing districts. At the end of 2013 the city’s TIF accounts held $1.71 BILLION in property tax dollars! This is a modest increase from 2012. A full report on our 2013 research is here.
The TIF Illumination Project is completely volunteer driven but we can really use your contribution so that we can publish all our work in multiple formats. Donate via PayPal here.
The CivicLab was profiled in the June 27th edition of Progress Illinois.
“July marks one year since the CivicLab, a non-profit organization, opened its “democracy design studio” in the West Loop of Chicago.
Looking ahead, one of the CivicLab’s co-founders says big plans are in the pipeline for year two of the co-working space, which is dedicated to collaboration, education and innovation for social change and civic engagement.
Seven organizations focused on issues such as housing justice, voter registration and health care are currently working out of the CivicLab’s storefront, located at 114 N. Aberdeen St.
Other activists, designers, educators and tech experts also gather and do research at the space, which is housed in a rehabbed 1890s firehouse that sits across the street from Harpo Studios, where “The Oprah Winfrey Show” was previously filmed.
In addition to offering a place where people can collaborate, the CivicLab hosts educational workshops and is behind the volunteer-based TIF Illumination Project, which is working to promote transparency around Chicago’s controversial tax increment financing (TIF) program.” [read the full article]
CivicLab co-founders Benjamin Sugar and Tom Tresser will be at PDF 2014 in New York Thursday and Friday. We’ll be part of a panel presentation on Friday, “City Labs For Civic Engagement” with folks from Hack Baltimore and BetaNYC. If you’re in NYC, contact us @ info@civiclab.us or @civiclabchicago! Here’s an interview with Tom.
http://issuu.com/cmrenner/docs/cnu-conference-final-20140325 – Free download of presentations and material from 2013 conference on new ways of doing urban development. We did a piece on the TIF Illumination Project. Also great stuff on how Rockford is using creativity and the arts for economic development and Naomi Davis presenting on her vision for grassroots community development.
Check out this great profile of The CivicLab from NBC Chicago’s “Ward Room.”
Check out this great video shot by the folks at the Progressive Democrats of America. It’s 28 minutes long and lays out what the CivicLab is all about and how The TIF Illumination Project works AND reveals the details of the 12 TIFs of the 27th Ward. Whew!
As an educator and organizer I love to share my research and insights (such as they are). It’s gratifying to know that so many people at least took the time to graze the presentations I put online. Use the contact form to reach me if you’d like a copy of one of these presentations or if you’re interested in a presentation at your organization.
Historian and reporter for The Nation Rick Perlstein is doing a series of articles on the perils of privatization. In this 13 minute interview on WBEZ he lays out the reasons to be very skeptical about the sorts of deals Chicago is “forcing down the throats” of the taxpayers. He gives a shout out to the work of Tom Tresser and the CivicLab.
I was on WVON’s morning drive-time show with Matt McGill this morning. We discussed NSA spying, Tax Increment Financing, community development and Chicago politics (30 minutes).
