Another TIF Controversy Flares Up in Chicago

New questions are surfacing about Chicago’s implementation of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) agreements.

An examination by Joseph Ferguson, the city’s Inspector General, claims that $3.7 million in cash contributions was funneled to selected non-profits from private concerns that were beneficiaries of TIF redevelopment deals. The IG report says that $915,000 was funneled to After School Matters, a non-profit founded by former Chicago First Lady Maggie Daley, the wife of ex Mayor Richard M. Daley.

Today, members of the BGA discussed the IG’s report and TIFs on radio and TV broadcasts.

The Inspector General says his report reveals there was a “lack of transparency and accountability in the City’s process of choosing specific non-profit organizations.” It adds that city officials did not have a system for supporting non-profits and instead determined arbitrarily which charities or groups would benefit from TIF-related contributions.

The fact that After School Matters was recipient of 59 percent of the available funds between 2000 and 2009 “undermines public confidence in whether the TIF process is being used appropriately,” according to the IG report.

This is the latest in a series of questions and concerns surrounding the implementation of Chicago-based TIFs. The districts are under fire from some community groups and leaders who are concerned that TIFs are being misused or abused and end up draining needed resources or tax receipts from neighborhood schools and projects.

Recently, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced that his administration is exploring a number of TIF reforms.

To learn more about Tax Increment Financing (TIF) agreements, consult these infographics:

INFOGRAPHIC: How A TIF Works
INFOGRAPHIC: How A TIF Is Created

Last Word on ’11 Mayoral Election

By Andy Shaw, BGA President & CEO

Photo courtesy Paul Newton/The Southern

Went to hair stylist extraordinaire Jeananne for a trim on Election Day so I’d look presentable for TV analysis that night. She’s a Mount Greenwood girl whose dad was a fireman so it’s no surprise that she liked Gery Chico in the Chicago mayor’s race. That’s the demographic. But she hadn’t voted that day and didn’t plan to. Forgot to register at her new address and couldn’t get enough time off work to make it back to her polling place. So Gery lost that vote. It didn’t affect the outcome, but it did send a message about a missing piece of this messy political system we call democracy.

The turnout in Chicago on February 22, the first contested mayor’s race in two decades in a city mired in multiple crises, was just over 40 percent. By way of comparison, 80 percent of the city’s voters raced to the polls for 1983’s historic election of Chicago’s first African-American mayor, Harold Washington.

You’ve seen and heard all the explanations for the abysmally low turnout in this latest “important and historic” election. The media created a sense of inevitability for Rahm Emanuel, so there was no suspense. He had enough money for endless TV ads highlighting super-star supporters like President Obama and former President Clinton. The black community never warmed up to gaffe-prone “consensus” candidate Carol Moseley Braun. Chico and Miguel del Valle split up the Latino vote. And the February weather was cold and snowy. Back in 1983 there was “real” history unfolding in front of us as Washington, a journeyman congressman and long shot underdog at the outset, built a once-in-a-lifetime “movement” that included most of the city’s Blacks, Latinos and progressive whites—just enough voters to defeat incumbent mayor Jane Byrne and then state’s attorney Richard M. Daley.

Tahrir Square, Egypt (Jonathan Rashad/Flickr)

The elections were, in fact, very different, even though both were labeled “historic.” 1983 was obviously more exciting. But not more important. And that’s why the relatively low turnout on February 22 is so disappointing. We’ve been riveted for a month by the unbelievably dramatic stories about the democratic push that is sweeping across much of the Arab world like a California wildfire—from Tunisia to Egypt to Yemen to Libya and beyond. Hundreds of thousands of people, oppressed for decades by authoritarian regimes, risking their lives by marching and demonstrating. The spirit of colonial America circa 1776 prevails as rulers step down and puppet governments pledge to unbuckle the political straight jackets so their people can breathe in the sweet scent of freedom and democracy—scents we’ve been inhaling for more than two centuries.

Government in the United States is in crisis at all levels. Massive budget deficits, bloated bureaucracies and unsustainable retiree health and pension obligations. Not enough cops on the streets, good teachers in the schools, efficient services or best practices to mimic. All of this applies to Chicago and should have been motivation enough for a big voter-turnout, regardless of the mitigating circumstances.

But only four out of every 10 registered voters made it out to the polls. Maybe that means that only four out of every 10 Chicagoans earned the right to gripe if they don’t like the way Rahm Emanuel goes about cleaning up the mess.

Emanuel said the “election was about reform,” and he’s made a lot of encouraging promises. The BGA will be watching closely, shining a bright light on his government and holding him accountable. And so will the hundreds of “citizen watchdogs” we’ve been training in sessions around the city and suburbs. We headed out to Joliet for a training session this week, with a follow-up one next week. Fifty motivated people who care about their government showed up. They understand, like we do, that our hard-earned tax dollars have to be spent on us, not the politicians. They will be watching the Joliet mayor and city council and the Will County board. But it’s likely they’ll also be paying close attention to Chicago because it’s the big dog in the eyes of the media, and with a high-profile, one-name mayor-elect, the stories will be irresistible—or at least unavoidable.

Jeananne will be watching the same stories. And when it comes time to grade Emanuel’s performance in a re-election campaign, if there is one, she’ll hopefully be registered to vote in her new neighborhood so she can weigh in on the job he’s done. That’ll mean she understands her obligation as an engaged citizen.

We need an army of engaged citizens to advocate for better government alongside reform groups like the BGA. Better government is a right and a responsibility, and we can make it a reality if we’re all in this together. That’s the dizzying dance of democracy. And the ticket to the dance floor is a receipt from the polling place on election day.

Protesting in Egypt (lucy like whoa/Flickr)

Statewide update—Feb. 23, 2011

Chicago Sun-Times—Big problems, painful solutions could seal Emanuel’s fate as one-termer, “Rahm Emanuel’s victory gives him a running start on confronting problems so severe, the painful solutions could seal his fate as a one-termer.”

• Northwest Herald—More bills to take on FOIA, “State lawmakers since Feb. 8 have filed at least seven bills aimed at rolling back improvements to the Illinois Freedom of Information and Open Meetings acts that took effect in 2010.”

• SouthtownStar—State judicial board files complaint against Markham judge, “The Illinois Judicial Inquiry board has filed a complaint against a Cook County judge, alleging he tried to influence the outcome of a colleague’s case on behalf of his mechanic.”

• Peoria Journal Star—Editorial: Don’t allow utilities to write their own rate hike rules, “Com-Ed wants the state to authorize regular rate increases for consumers and greater control for the utility in setting its profit margin.”

• Chicago Tribune—Lake County coroner quite, pleads guilty in drug fatality case, “Lake County Coroner Richard Keller pleaded guilty to two felony charges Tuesday and resigned his position after an investigation into a patient’s death at a methadone clinic.”

• The Southern—Court dumps woman’s bid for bigger pension, “A woman involved in a government corruption case cannot collect pension benefits based on what she earned as part of an illegal kickback scheme, a state appeals court has ruled.”

• The Southern—TIF districts create work for assessors, “Towns within Williamson County that have approved tax increment finance districts to propel economic development by way of property improvements have created an excessive amount of work for the county clerk and tax assessing offices, a county official said.”