Tifs

Alderman: East Loop Doesn't Need A TIF District

Chicago Real Estate Daily | Eddie Baeb | Posted 11.18.2009 | Chicago


Alderman Brendan Reilly (42nd) said he doesn't support a new tax-increment financing district for the East Loop. ...

Lessons Learned From the Olympic Fiasco

Tom Tresser | Posted 10.19.2009 | Chicago


Tom Tresser

If citizens want to be protected from bad government and further rip-offs, we are going to have to rise to a new level of involvement. I have little hope that our elected representatives will truly represent us.

Daley Offering United Another $10M To Move To Willis Tower

Crain's Chicago Business | Thomas A. Corfman | Posted 11.08.2009 | Chicago


The Daley administration is coughing up an additional $10 million to entice the parent of United Airlines to move its operations center downtown from ...

Alderman Burke Had Fence Behind His Home Built With Taxpayer Money

Chicago Sun-Times | CHRIS FUSCO and TIM NOVAK | Posted 11.08.2009 | Chicago


For years, the single railroad track south of Curie Metro High School on the Southwest Side had been a hangout for teens and a cut-through for commute...

Whose Fault is the CPS Budget Crisis?

Paras Bhayani | Posted 09.18.2009 | Chicago


Paras Bhayani

If the federal government provided a higher social security payout funded by higher payroll taxes, CPS could actually devote attention to its work rather than worrying about how to pay for its retirees' pensions.

TIF Money Approved For Civic Opera Building Renovations

Crain's Chicago Business | Eddie Baeb | Posted 09.12.2009 | Chicago


The city's Community Development Commission on Tuesday approved providing $488,844 in tax-increment financing for the Lyric Opera of Chicago to help p...

Daley: Tax Break For United's Willis Tower Move Essential For Jobs

Crain's Chicago Business | Eddie Baeb | Posted 09.06.2009 | Chicago


Mayor Richard M. Daley says the city's proposed $24-million subsidy to help bring 2,800 United Airlines employees downtown is warranted because of the...

United Getting $25 Million From City For Willis Tower Move

Chicago Sun-Times | DAVID ROEDER AND FRAN SPIELMAN | Posted 09.06.2009 | Chicago


Mayor Daley is strapped for cash to run city government, but he has a rich money pot to subsidize private development downtown....

Olympic Village To Cost Around $1.18 Billion, Use TIF Money

Chicago Tribune | Kathy Bergen | Posted 09.05.2009 | Chicago


The tab for building an Olympic Village typically is reported to be about $1 billion, but a tally of various associated costs puts the total at $1.18 ...

Chicago's Parking Meter Deal a Prescription For Trouble

David Orr | Posted 07.20.2009 | Chicago


David Orr

As taxpayers, it's high time we knew more: how many tickets are issued by ward, by neighborhood, by street. We should know why they are issued and who foots the bill, and, maybe, why a city with a billion dollar TIF surplus couldn't even balance its budget.

Massive Old Post Office Headed For Auction

Huffington Post | Tim Taliaferro | Posted 07.10.2009 | Chicago


The bidding will start at $300,000. That's the suggested minimum bid for the hulking 77-year-old building that was once Chicago's main post office. T...

City Has Nearly $1 Billion In Unspent TIF Money Stashed Away

Progress Illinois | Angela Caputo | Posted 07.09.2009 | Chicago


Over the past month, Mayor Daley's tax increment financing (TIF) system has attracted some much-needed scrutiny. ...

City-Subsidized Affordable Housing Units Being Flipped For Big Profits

Chicago Sun-Times | TIM NOVAK AND CHRIS FUSCO | Posted 06.15.2009 | Chicago


Mayor Daley promised that one-fifth of the homes built as part of the massive makeover of the historic Maxwell Street market would be set aside as aff...

Sears Tower TIF: Willis Wants Tax Deal For Move To Iconic Skyscraper

Crain's Chicago Business | Posted 06.12.2009 | Chicago


Willis Group Holdings Ltd. is seeking a $3.8-million city subsidy to pay for build-out of its new headquarters at Sears Tower, which will soon be rena...

TIF Sunshine Ordinance Passes City Council 48-0

Huffington Post | Posted 05.23.2009 | Chicago


It's about to get a lot easier to find out where the reams of city taxpayer money spent on Tax Increment Financing districts goes. On Wednesday the C...

TIF Sunshine Ordinance Passes Committee

Huffington Post | Posted 05.22.2009 | Chicago


A bill that would require the City of Chicago to disclose all the financial details of murky Tax Increment Financing (TIF) deals is a step closer to b...

Eternal Sunshine of Chicago's Mind: TIFs Need to be Brought Into the Light

Esther J. Cepeda | Posted 04.27.2009 | Chicago


Esther J. Cepeda

TIF districts make eyes glaze over because they're difficult to understand, difficult to track, and it takes decades to see the results of bad governance, perfect conditions for pulling the wool over citizens.

City Council Tables Vote On TIF Reform

Chicago Reader | Mick Dumke | Posted 04.16.2009 | Chicago


But this being the Chicago City Council, where almost nothing moves forward without the imprimatur of the mayor, the proposal was tabled without a vot...

City Official Makes $300,000 On Homeless Shelter Deal

Chicago Sun-Times | Posted 02.27.2009 | Chicago


A decade ago, David Ariola owned a South Loop gym where Mayor Daley worked out. Today, the businessman serves on Daley's Community Development Commis...

Change Comes to Washington, Will it Come to Chicago?

Tom Tresser | Posted 02.20.2009 | Chicago


Tom Tresser

The city that gave the nation a leader who called for change is wondering if the change that is hopefully coming to Washington can ever take place at their doorstep.

$10 Million Tax Subsidy To Closed Republic Factory Can't Be Recovered

Chicago Reader | Mick Dumke | Posted 02.13.2009 | Chicago


So much for that $10 million. As expected, Daley administration officials told aldermen [Monday] that the city can't recover any of the taxpayer-fund...

City Will Finance 2016 Olympic Village Site With TIF Funds

Crain's Chicago Business | John Pletz | Posted 02.12.2009 | Chicago


The city of Chicago will need a tax-increment financing district to develop the Olympic Village planned on the former site of Michael Reese Hospital. ...

City Wants TIF Money Back From Closed Republic Windows Factory

Chicago Sun-Times | Fran Spielman | Posted 02.12.2009 | Chicago


Top mayoral aides will appear before a City Council committee today to explain what, if any, legal action the city will take against shuttered Republi...

City Sued Over TIF Funds

Chicago Public Radio | Tasha Flournoy | Posted 01.03.2009 | Chicago


A group of residents on Chicago's North Side is suing the city and developers over a development project. The group alleges city officials are misusin...

Making Good On Affordable Housing Referendums

Progress Illinois | Angela Caputo | Posted 12.08.2008 | Chicago


Referendums aimed at bringing more affordable housing to two lakefront Chicago communities passed by wide margins this week. In Uptown, 66 percent of ...