HYDE PARK–(ENEWSPF)–August 7, 2012. As the city of Chicago struggles to pay its teachers and provide quality education to its students, Hyatt Hotels Corporation should not be benefiting from $5.2 million in Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) funds used to build a new hotel. TIF districts divert local property taxes away from funding education and social services to instead subsidize corporate growth. The Hyatt Place Chicago will be the centerpiece of the Harper Court commercial development project, which in total will receive $20 million from the 53rdStreet TIF District.
Meanwhile, seven public schools near this TIF district are slated to lose over $3.3 million in funding and 27 positions in the proposed 2013 CPS budget. Parents and students from these schools, alongside concerned community members, will picket the construction site of the new Hyatt to demand property tax dollars be used as intended to fund schools and other services, not to subsidize giant corporations.
