Thanks to the great people at Shelterforce for this thorough and thoughtful piece covering TIFs and the organizing and engagement work of the TIF Illumination Project.
Great Coverage of TIF Work!
Category Archives: TIF Town Meeting
Our 2020 TIF Analysis Front Page News
Gazette Chicago reporter attended our October 4, 2021 deep dive on the TIFs of Chicago. This is the first time a Chicago-based reporter has attended on reported on one of our public TIF meetings in six years! Read the report here…
Book Time With Tom
Help The TIF Illumination Project Survive!
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
Standing Room Only @ 11th Ward TIF Illumination
The TIF Illumination Project did our 26th public meeting on December 4, 2014 when we lit up the TIFs of the 11th ward at the First Trinity Lutheran Church on 31st Street. I’m constantly amazed and thrilled by the turn out and civic energy present at these meetings. This one was partially sponsored by Friends of Maureen Sullivan, who is running for 11th ward alderman.
You can preview the presentation here. You can download the full presentation at the TIF Data Store. Please help us produce a series of TIF training videos that will be placed online for free viewing – contribute to our first crowdfunding campaign!
If you would like more information on TIF training, research and scheduling an Illumination for YOUR ward, please email tom@civiclab.us.
All TIF Presentations Now Available!
Download all the presentations from the ward Illuminations made from the TIF Illumination Project. Only $2.50 each.
Interview Reveals (mostly) All
Jim Jacoby of the American Design and Master-Craft Initiative and Jim Cohen of BeSparked interviewed me in July for this series of master designer podcasts. What, you may ask, do I have to do with design? Ah ha! You’ll just have to listen to this wide-ranging 47 minute interview where I talk about my background in the arts and the connections between design, space and civic engagement. If you do listen – please comment at the bottom of the podcast web page.
TIF Presentations Viewed 44,000+ Times!
We upload all the TIF presentations to http://www.slideshare.net/tomtee. These presentations have been viewed over 44,000 times!
The champ is the two presentations on the 27th ward which were viewed a total 4,292 times.Thar works out to something like 10 views every day since they were uploaded.
So – if you are one of the people whose viewed these presentations and found them valuable – PLEASE support our work by (1) signing our email list at http://tinyurl.com/SignUp-CivicLab, (2) consider renting a desk with us (we’re in Chicago’s West Loop), and (3) making a deducible contribution via our fiscal agent, the Investigative News Network – http://tinyurl.com/SupportTheLab-INN. Contact Tom Tresser at tom@civiclab.us.
Chicago Reader Cites Work of TIF Project
Thanks to tireless TIF reporter Ben Joravsky of The Chicago Reader for this wonderful piece. He connects the dots from the supposed state of Chicago’s finances to the plight of our public schools and the tens of millions, nay, hundreds of millions of property tax dollars, we shower on major corporations.
None of this work would’ve been possible without the hundreds of hours contributed by our all volunteer team of coders, map makers, graphic designers, researchers and community organizers who – collectively – have now Illuminated 127 TIFs across 29 wards. The full record of these forums are here. If you want YOUR ward Illuminated, contact us at tom@civiclab.us.
When we Illuminate a ward we tell you: (1) overview of how TIFs work in Chicago, (2) how many TIFs in the ward, (3) best estimate of how much $ those TIFs took from your ward, (4) how much money left in TIF accounts FROM your ward, (5) who got paid from TIFs in your ward. We even provide a nifty graphic map that lays all this out in a super clear manner. No one else can tell you all this!
The TIF Illumination Project Is One Year Old!
We launched the TIF Illumination Project at the Chopin Theater one year ago! What a wild ride it’s been. Here is an account of the work we’ve done. Comments are welcome.