TIF Illumination Program to Reveal Details on the Six TIFs in the 48th Ward
CHICAGO, IL – The Tax Increment Financing District or TIF Illumination Project will reveal the details of the impacts of the six TIFs that are active inside the 48th ward at a public meeting or “Illumination†on Wednesday, June 18 at 7pm at Emanuel Congregation, 5959 N. Sheridan Road.
Attendees will learn:
What is a TIF and the extent of the program across the years
Which TIFs are inside the ward and how much property taxes they extracted in 2012
How much money from the ward was left in the TIF accounts at the end of the year
What projects in the ward were funded by TIF dollars
The TIF Illumination Project has been using data mining, investigatory journalism, graphic design and community organizing to reveal the details of Chicago’s massive TIF program since February 2013. Since then the project has Illuminated 147 TIFs across 25 wards in front of over 2,000 people. The project was profiled in the July 22, 2013 cover story of The Nation, “Chicago Rising!†(see http://tinyurl.com/Nation-article).
The host for the meeting is the Emanuel Congregation Social Action Committee. Said event organizer Carol Edelson, a member of the Committee, “We wanted to educate ourselves on TIFs because they affect development in our neighborhood and the amount of property tax money that is available for city services. It’s an important issue affecting our community so we decided to hold an open public meeting to inform ourselves and our neighbors.†Co-sponsors for this event are the Chicago Teachers Union, Northside Action for Justice,  The People Project, Edgewater Presbyterian Church,  and ONE Northside.
Presenting the TIF data will be Tom Tresser (www.tresser.com), Lead Organizer for the TIF Illumination Project and co-founder of the CivicLab. Founded in July of 2013, The CivicLab is Chicago’s only co-working space dedicated to collaboration, education and innovation for social justice and civic engagement efforts. Online at www.tifreports.com and www.civiclab.us.
“People who pay property taxes – property owners or renters – need to hear this information about how almost 500 million dollars in property taxes are extracted an put in a clout-driven slush fund,†said Tresser, “This extraction dramatically affects vital city services – most notably public education, so it really is everybody’s business.â€
Also presenting will be Eithne McMenamin, Associate Director of Policy at the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. “I think it’s important for people to hear about the good that TIF money can do to create affordable housing and help our city recover from the housing crisis,†says McMenamin, “While there are a lot of issues about how TIF money is spent and who makes those decisions, we should remember that it’s simply a tool. How that tool is used and to whose benefit are the questions we should always be asking.â€
Sweet Home Chicago is a city-wide coalition of grassroots community organizations and unions working together to create housing for low-income and working people. The coalition led the effort that resulted in the City passing, in May 2011, the TIF Purchase Rehab Ordinance (aka the Sweet Home Chicago Ordinance (http://tinyurl.com/o2czy6j) that creates a fund to be used for the rehab of vacant/ foreclosed buildings for affordable housing. Recently, as part of the City’s 5-Year Affordable Housing Plan they have committed $35 million for the program.
The 48th Ward TIF Illumination will take place on Wednesday, June 18, from 7pm to 9pm at Emanuel Congregation, 5959 N. Sheridan Road. The meeting is free and open to the public. Easy access via CTA bus routes 151 and 147 and via the Red Line via the Thorndale stop. Free parking in the temple parking lot. Refreshments will be provided. People may RSVP via ths Facebook link: http://tinyurl.com/48thWard-TIF.
