“Time for TIF sunshine” Chicago Tribune Op-Ed could be talking about Schaumburg’s Tax Increment Financing woes. 

Talk about a no-brainer. Two Chicago aldermen think the public ought to know what’s going on with hundreds of millions of dollars in off-the-books property tax spending. Ald. Manny Flores (1st) and Scott Waguespack (32nd) have been trying for months to get their colleagues on the City Council to pass an ordinance requiring the city to post the details of its tax increment financing deals online.

For years, former Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley railed about the TIF districts calling them “hidden tax increases” because they force local governments to raise taxes to offset the money siphoned off by the city. As Chicagoans feel the pinch of higher fees and service cuts, more and more people are demanding to know how the TIF money is being spent. 

Here is a non-published letter I submitted in respnse to the Chicago Tribune story.

TIF Reforms Needed Statewide As Well

Having recently been a witness to the approval process for Schaumburg’s new $120 million STAR Line Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district, I can affirmatively say that TIF transparency reforms are desperately needed statewide and not just in Chicago (April 21, “Time for TIF Sunshine”).

The Village of Schaumburg did the legal bare minimum in informing the public about the purposes and costs of the project. Schaumburg never issued a press release or put a message in the Village newsletters. It never put any details of the project online such as the $120 million price tag and the $94 million in planned corporate subsidies for condo, hotel, and restaurant developers. Most importantly, it did not inform the citizens of Schaumburg about the effects on local taxing bodies and taxpayers.

A Republican candidate for Governor, Adam Andrzejewski, is proposing that all new and renewals of TIF districts would have to pass a voter referendum in a November General Election. By requiring a referendum, it would force municipalities to forthrightly educate its citizens about TIF districts and their costs. Citizens could vote down unnecessary and poorly justified TIF’s. Andrzejewski also proposes requiring more TIF information on property tax bills since there currently is no information.

In addition to the sunshine proposals by Ald. Flores and Waguespack, these ideas, if implemented, would be a promising start towards reforming Illinois broken TIF system.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

No related posts.