TIF Illumination Project Delivers 30th TIF Town Meeting For 25th Ward
On Thursday, January 25 the TIF Illumination Project will present its 30th TIF town meeting, or Illumination, for the 25th ward at the Rudy Lozano Library, 1805 S. Loomis Street. The forum, free and open to the public, will go from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The TIF Illumination Project (www.tifreports.com) is an all-volunteer effort that combines data mining, investigatory reporting, graphic design, map making and community organizing to explore and expose the impacts of Chicago’s Tax Increment Financing Program on a ward-by- ward basis.
Since the program began in February 2013 the TIF researchers have revealed the details of 134 TIFs across 34 wards in front of over 4,000 people.
Each meeting or Illumination has been organized by a different group of community members. The 25th ward forum is being organized by the Pilsen Alliance (www.thepilsenalliance.org).
“In the 25th ward some TIFs has created blight, rather than eradicate it. Meanwhile, areas far from blighted get the money schools and libraries should be getting. It is time we put this money to work for regular people, away from politicians and well connected developers,†said Nelson Soza, Pilsen Alliance Executive Director.
Said Byron Sigcho, Pilsen Alliance leader, “As residents and taxpayers we must know how our public dollars are used. Why are 25th ward taxes subsidizing private projects downtown? How are we going to use the $44 million sitting in the Pilsen TIF alone? The community needs a powerful voice on how TIFs are spent, including the estimated $1.5 billion currently sitting unspent. These critical questions demand answers.â€
When the TIF Illumination Project visits a ward we reveal:
(1) Overview of how TIFs work in Chicago
(2) How many TIFs are in the ward
(3) How much $ they took in 2013
(4) How much $ was left in TIF accounts FROM the ward
(5) What projects were funded by TIFs in the ward
(6) If any money was transferred in or out of the TIFs
(7) How much money the Department of Planning and Development skimmed from your TIFs for their own operation
We also hand out a one-page summary of our findings on a map of the ward showing the TIFs.
No one else is providing this information.
In January of 2015 we released a 20-minute video, “TIF 101†online at http://tinyurl.com/TIF-101-final. The video was produced as a result of an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign that attracted 80 contributors.
The TIF Illumination Project is a work of the CivicLab, America’s only co-working space dedicated to collaboration, education and innovation for social justice and civic engagement. We opened in July of 2013 and are located on the first floor of an 1890’s fire station at 114 N. Aberdeen Street. The CivicLab was co-founded by Benjamin Sugar and Tom Tresser.
More info: Tom Tresser, 312-804-3230, tom@civiclab.us
