The wait is over! The TIF Illumination Project has released its analysis of Chicago’s 148 TIF districts for 2016.
The headline, as always, is how much property tax dollars was sitting in TIF accounts on January 1, 2017.
$1.4 billion. Chicago is NOT broke.
Tom was interviewed on the “Connected To Chicago” radio program with long time political reported Bill Cameron. We discussed “Chicago Is Not Broke. Funding the City We Deserve” in light of the Inauguration of Donald Trump, which took place shortly before we began the interview.
Tom was on “Chicago Newsroom” with Ken Davis on April 7, 2016 to talk civics, TIFs and explain why it was great to NOT get the 2016 Olympics and how Chicago is NOT broke. (46 minutes)
Want to get Illuminated? Attend this one hour “TIF 101” webinar on January 6. It’s free. Tom Tresser of the TIF Illumination Project, will present. Please purchase a seat via EventBrite:
PLEASE SCROLL DOWN AND SIGN THIS PETITION.
Go the TIF Illumination Project to get the full 2014 analysis of Chicago’s TIF program.
Contribute to the TIF Illumination Project via PayPal (and get some swell swag). We’ve been turned down ten times by national and local foundations.
What a night at Malcolm X College. About 300 people showed up for the first 2016 Budget Town Hall presided over by Mayor Emanuel and attended by all his department heads. Dozens of folks got one minute to ask a question or make a statement. The room was filled with supporters of the Dyett High School hunger strikers. People young and old expressed their anger and aspirations, stepping up to the mike and demanding that the mayor first meet with the hunger strikers and accept the community-development proposal to transform Dyett into a global leadership and green technology academy.
There were also calls for coming clean on TIFs and releasing TIF funds into the general stream of local government agencies – especially our beleaguered public schools. I asked the mayor to release all documents proving his claim that most of the $1.4 billion sitting in TIFs on January 1, 2015 are NOT available for distribution. The mayor and his budget director actually responded. Budget Director Alex Holt promised Tom a meeting in the near future to answer all our questions on where the money is. Stay tuned.
Watch the exchange here:
Listen to the full exchange here.
Thanks to the tireless TIF illuminators who downloaded, opened and poured over all 150 2014 Chicago TIF reports we now have our comprehensive analysis of Chicago’s TIF activity for last year!
Click over to the TIF Illuminator web site for all the TIF news that’s fit to print.
The CivicLab has closed but the TIF Illumination Project can survive and thrive. But only if YOU pitch in. Please contribute to our crowdfunding campaign today. Happy Birthday, America!
CLICK HERE to support The TIF Illumination Project
After two years of jam packed work and hosting 17 social justice and organizing groups the CivicLab must close its doors on June 30, 2015. We’d love to hear from folks who used the space or who found what we did there valuable. Please visit our Facebook page to comment. Thanks!
