CHICAGO–(ENEWSPF)–August 23, 2015. A review of the 2014 annual reports of the City’s 150 Tax Increment Financing Districts by volunteers with the TIF Illumination Project revealed some startling facts about local government finance:
The total fund balance at the end of 2014, that is, all property tax dollars sitting in TIF accounts was $1,442,450,590 (a decrease from the $1.71 billion left in TIF accounts from the year prior). The TIF Illumination Project has issued a Freedom of Information Act request to both the Department of Planning and Development and the Office of Budget and Management to secure definitive documentation on the status of these funds. The mayor’s office claims most of it to be “reserved for future development” or obligated to pay existing debt incurred by existing TIF projects.
A wide array of civic actors, including the Chicago Teachers Union, Raise Your Hand for Illinois Education, affordable housing advocates and organizing efforts such as the Grassroots Collaborative have called into question Chicago’s official budget pronouncements of red ink and service cuts. Citing the staggering amount of property taxes being held in TIF accounts, these groups, as well as the editorial boards of local newspapers, have called for a complete accounting of these funds.
Other findings of our analysis of Chicago’s TIF districts for 2014 include:
Total Property Tax Increment extraction for 2014 = $425,634,435 (an increase from 2013 of $26.1 million or 6.5%) This is the amount of property taxes extracted by Chicago’s TIF districts and diverted from local units of government that rely on property taxes for their operation. 56% of Chicago property taxes are SUPPOSED to go to the Chicago Public Schools.
80 TIFs take at least 50% of property taxes collected inside their borders. 22 extract at least 90%. 4 will actually collect 100% (another 3 take 97% or more).
The Top Ten TIFs collected a total of $215.1 million in property taxes in 2014. These are the “champions” in terms of property tax extraction. The Number One TIF = Near South, collected $56.5 million in 2014. This TIF was cancelled in 2014.
Total expenditures from Chicago’s TIFs in 2014 were $638.3 million. This represented an increase from 2013 of $265.4 million or 71%) This is how much all of Chicago’s TIF districts spent in 2014. The biggest spender was the Near South TIF with $102.3 million. $28 million will go to subsidize the development of the Marriot’s Hotel on the McCormick Place campus. $53.2 million went to the Board of Education for the Jones College Prep High School. $11.6 million went to the CTA for construction of the new Cermak Road Green Line station.
Total revenues transferred INTO TIFs = $127.6 million. This was how much revenue was placed INTO TIF accounts from other TIFs.
Total “surplus” revenues from TIFs distributed to local government sources was $37.7 million. In total, $166.3 million of TIF funds were moved around the city.
The Top Ten TIFs in terms of fund balance were holding $555.2 million in property taxes on January 1, 2015. The TIF with the largest fund balance was the Canal/Congress TIF holding $66.3 million.
In 2014 these seven TIFs were terminated: 45th/Western, 95th/Stony Island, 134th St./Avenue K, Kostner Avenue, Near South, Roosevelt/Homan and West Pullman.
Chicago’s 31 expired or repealed TIFs have collected $2.02 billion in property taxes, including a staggering $986,767,890 from the Central Loop TIF which expired in 2008 and $694,223,201 from the Near South TIF which was cancelled in 2014.
Four new TIFs came online in 2014: 51st/Lake Park, 107th/Halsted, Foster/California and Washington Park. The Washington Park TIF was created despite studied and strenuous objections from residents in the community.
For the first time the TIF Illumination Project looked at the financing costs associated with Chicago’s TIF districts. In 2014 20 TIFs used property taxes to pay a total of $98,644,025 in finance charges to two banks. The Amalgamated Bank of Chicago was paid a total of $66,340,798 from 10 projects. Wells Fargo Bank was paid $32,303,227 from 10 projects.
The Department of Planning and Development extracted $8,822,046 for staffing costs from 91 TIFs. This might be called “skimming the skim.”
The most striking number was the finding that over $1.44 billion in property taxes was sitting in TIF accounts on January 1, 2015.
The Top Ten TIFs by property tax collection for 2014 were:
| Name | Amount |
| Near South (cancelled 2014) | $56,491,273 |
| Lawrence/Broadway | $27,011,891 |
| Canal/Congress | $19,594,590 |
| Chicago/Kingsbury | $19,170,514 |
| Kinzie | $18,379,029 |
| Near North | $17,924,411 |
| Central West | $14,792,414 |
| River South | $14,398,092 |
| LaSalle/Central | $14,051,697 |
| River West | $13,250,612 |
| $215,064,523 |
The Top Ten TIFs by fund balance in 2014 were:
| Name | Amount |
| Canal/Congress | $66,278,297 |
| Chicago/Kingsbury | $64,467,326 |
| Near North | $64,075,780 |
| Central West | $57,003,957 |
| Kinzie Conservation | $56,348,066 |
| Chicago/Central Park | $56,017,958 |
| Pilsen | $50,843,157 |
| LaSalle/Central | $47,851,465 |
| River South | $46,209,185 |
| Midwest | $46,069,469 |
| $555,164,660 |
The Top Ten TIFs by expenditures in 2014 were:
| Name | Amount |
| Near South (cancelled 2014) | $102,323,934 |
| 24th/Michigan | $53,804,217 |
| Pilsen | $38,892,290 |
| Calumet/Cermak | $34,526,030 |
| Central West | $26,269,802 |
| North Branch North | $25,690,543 |
| Chicago/Central Park | $22,728,872 |
| Western Avenue South | $16,853,637 |
| River South | $16,218,627 |
| Goose Island | $16,055,143 |
| $353,363,095 |
The TIFs that collected NO property taxes in 2014 were:
| Name |
| 51st/Lake Park |
| 67th/Wentworth |
| 134th/Avenue K (Cancelled 2014) |
| Calumet River |
| Foster/California |
| Kostner Avenue (Cancelled 2014) |
| Lakeside Develop |
| Montrose/Clarendon |
| Pratt/Ridge |
| Washington Park |
| West Pullman (Cancelled 2014) |
21 TIFs extracted 90% or more of property taxes in their boundaries in 2015:
| TIF # | TIF | Year Created | TIF takes at least 90% of property taxes |
| 141 | 26th/King | 2006 | 100% |
| 002 | 41st/King | 1995 | 95% |
| 004 | 49th/St. Lawrence | 1995 | 94% |
| 124 | 67th/Cicero | 2002 | 100% |
| 138 | 69th/Ashland | 2004 | 91% |
| 010 | 126th/Torrence | 1994 | 91% |
| 067 | Archer Courts | 1999 | 98% |
| 013 | Bryn Mawr/Broadway | 1996 | 97% |
| 059 | Calumet/Cermak | 1998 | 98% |
| 122 | Drexel | 2002 | 98% |
| 106 | Englewood Neighborhood | 2001 | 91% |
| 119 | Lakefront | 2002 | 100% |
| 126 | Madden/Wells | 2002 | 99% |
| 173 | Montrose/Clarendon | 2010 | 100% |
| 031 | Near South (cancelled 2014) | 1991 | 91% |
| 100 | Ohio/Wabash | 2000 | 96% |
| 037 | River South | 1998 | 93% |
| 104 | River West | 2001 | 90% |
| 039 | Roosevelt/Canal | 1996 | 93% |
| 068 | Roosevelt/Union | 2000 | 94% |
| 085 | Western Avenue South | 2001 | 92% |
| [21 TIFs] |
Hundreds of millions of property tax dollars continue to move around the city, from one TIF into another and are sometimes distributed to local units of government.
| TIF $ From | To | Reason | |
| TIF | Amount | TIF | |
| Pilsen | $8,222,456 | Chicago Board of Ed | Juarez High School improvements |
| North Branch South | $10,000,000 | Goose Island | $8,000,000 went to UI labs; $2,000,000 went to engineering phase of the Division Street, North Branch Canal Bridge Reconstruction project. |
| River West | $8,600,000 | LaSalle/Central | $6,600,000 (from contiguous River West) for: Central Loop Bus Rapid Transit project. $2,000,000 (from contiguous River West) for: Central Loop Bus Rapid Transit project (structural repairs to Lake Street Bascule Bridge). |
| Englewood Neighborhood | $7,500,000 | Englewood Mall | Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives Inc., for pre- development work for their development near 63rd Street and Halsted Street. |
| 24th/Michigan | $4,115,000 | River South | Reimbursement for funding from 2013 for construction of National Teachers Academy (2220 South Federal Street) |
| Calumet/Cermak | $3,000,000 | Michigan/Cermak | Cermak Road Green Line CTA station |
| Greater Southwest West | $2,934,023 | 67th/Cicero | Lighting and various park site improvements to Madigan Field (4701 W. 67th Street) |
| Bronzeville | $2,500,000 | 35th/State | For redevelopment agreement with Park Boulevard IIB, LLC for their development at 3633 South State St. |
| 60th/Western | $2,000,000 | 63rd/Ashland | Chicago Park District for expansion of Lindblom Park (6054 South Damen) |
| Devon/Western | $1,699,498 | Touhy/Western | $497,659 to debt service of Phase I of the Modern Schools Across Chicago Bonds, Series 2007; $1,201, 929 for Phase II of Modern Schools |
| Roosevelt/Homan (Cancelled 2014) | $1,062,798 | Homan/Arthington | Westside Village Phase VI Limited Partnership and Foundation for Homan Square for their development at 3601 W. Arthington |
| LaSalle/Central | $632,000 | Randolph/Wells | Randolph Tower City Apartments, LLC for their development at 188 W. Randolph St. |
| Bryn Mawr/Broadway | $500,000 | Hollywood/Sheridan | Hollywood/Sheridan Small Business Improvement Fund Program |
| 119th/I-57 | $353,381 | 105th/Vincennes | Redevelopment agreement with MGM/TGI 105th Street LLC |
| 47th/Halsted | $218,570 | 47th/Ashland | Phase II Modern Schools Across Chicago Bonds, Series 2010 |
| West Pullman (Cancelled 2014) | $97,500 | 119th/Halsted | Return the unused portion of the 2013 transfer for the cost of demolition of the City-owned structure at 11914 South Peoria Ave. |
| River South | 6,602,753 | 24th/Michigan | $3,200,000 for intergovernmental agreement with Public Building Commission for acquisition/construction of Chinatown Branch Library (2101-15 S. Archer Ave.); $3,402,753 for Michigan Ave. Streetscape (23rd-24th Street). |
| Near South | $17,300,000 | 24th/Michigan | $8,425,000: National Teachers Academy (2200 S. Federal St.); $5,875,000: Chinatown Branch Library; $3,000,000: Cermak Road Green Line CTA station |
| Near South | $28,000,000 | Calumet Ave./Cermak Road | Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority for second convention center hotel in McCormick Place Campus |
| Midwest | $1,761,498 | Chicago/Central Park | $1,564,567: Phase I of the Modern Schools Across Chicago Bonds, Series 2007; $196,931: Phase II Modern Schools Across Chicago Bonds, Series 2010 |
| Kinzie Industrial Corridor | $3,690,643 | Chicago/Central Park | $2,555,260: Phase I of the Modern Schools Across Chicago Bonds, Series 2007; $1,135,383: Phase II Modern Schools Across Chicago Bonds, Series 2010 |
| Pulaski Corridor | $670,284 | Chicago/Central Park | Phase I of the Modern Schools Across Chicago Bonds, Series 2007 |
| Northwest Industrial Corridor | $950,116 | Chicago/Central Park | Phase I of the Modern Schools Across Chicago Bonds, Series 2007 |
| Lake Calumet | $4,200,000 | North Pullman | Redevelopment agreement with Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives, Inc., for their development near 111th/Ellis Street |
| Roseland/Michigan | $1,400,000 | North Pullman | Redevelopment agreement with Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives, Inc., for their development near 111th/Ellis Street |
| 87th/Cottage Grove | $1,688,175 | 71st/Stony Island | Phase I of the Modern Schools Across Chicago Bonds, Series 2007 |
| Avalon Park/South Shore | $529,562 | 71st/Stony Island | Phase I of the Modern Schools Across Chicago Bonds, Series 2007 |
| Stony Island/Burnside | $1,765,123 | 71st/Stony Island | $1,413,459: Phase I of the Modern Schools Across Chicago Bonds, Series 2007; $351,664: East 76th Street resurfacing Project |
| Woodlawn | $1,285,981 | 71st/Stony Island | Phase I of the Modern Schools Across Chicago Bonds, Series 2007 |
| Midwest | $1,516,587 | Madison/Austin | Phase I of the Modern Schools Across Chicago Bonds, Series 2007 |
| Northwest Industrial Corridor | $2,490,489 | Madison/Austin | Phase I of the Modern Schools Across Chicago Bonds, Series 2007 |
| Madison/Austin | $909,880 | Harrison/Central | Loretto Hospital for the rehabilitation of their facility located at 645 South Central Avenue. |
| 63rd/Pulaski | $1,677,626 | 51st/Archer | $1,148,060: Phase I of the Modern Schools Across Chicago Bonds, Series 2007; $529,566: Phase II Modern Schools Across Chicago Bonds, Series 2010 |
| Midway Industrial | $1,029,996 | 51st/Archer | $986,230: Phase I of the Modern Schools Across Chicago Bonds, Series 2007; $43,766: Phase II Modern Schools Across Chicago Bonds, Series 2010 |
| Belmont Central | $2,049,049 | Galewood/Armitage | $294,221: Phase I of the Modern Schools Across Chicago Bonds, Series 2007; $1,754,828: Phase II Modern Schools Across Chicago Bonds, Series 2010 |
| Northwest Industrial Corridor | $255,883 | Galewood/Armitage | $168,141: Phase I of the Modern Schools Across Chicago Bonds, Series 2007; $87,742: Phase II Modern Schools Across Chicago Bonds, Series 2010 |
| Western Ave. | $749,328 | Lincoln Ave. | Phase I of the Modern Schools Across Chicago Bonds, Series 2007 |
| Western Ave. | $700,000 | Devon/Western | West Ridge Nature Preserve |
| Woodlawn | $250,000 | West Woodlawn | West Woodlawn Small Business Improvement Fund Program |
| Total | $126,685,743 | ||
Here are the TIFs that have been repealed or terminated.
| TIF # | TIF | Started | End | Grand Total Extraction |
| T-003 | 43rd/Damen | 8/3/1994 | 12/31/2008 | $1,863,540 |
| T-006 | 72nd/Cicero | 11/17/1993 | 2012 | $3,973,719 |
| T-007 | 73rd/Kedzie | 11/17/1993 | 2012 | $511,947 |
| T-008 | 95th Street/Stony Island | 1991 | 2014 | $16,644,244 |
| T-012 | Bloomingdale/Laramie | 9/15/1993 | 12/31/2008 | $1,411 |
| T-014 | Central Loop | 6/20/1984 | 12/31/2008 | $986,767,890 |
| T-015 | Chatham-Ridge | 12/18/1986 | 12/31/2010 | $25,679,863 |
| T-016 | Chinatown Basin | 12/18/1986 | 12/31/2010 | $29,859,789 |
| T-017 | Division-Hooker | 7/10/1996 | 2012 | $3,378,641 |
| T-018 | Division/North Branch | 3/15/1991 | 2012 | $4,275,520 |
| T-019 | Eastman/North Branch | 10/7/1993 | 2012 | $2,690,364 |
| T-020 | Edgewater | 12/18/1986 | 12/18/2009 | $5,326,637 |
| T-022 | Fullteron/Normandy | 10/7/1993 | 12/31/2008 | $7,263,866 |
| T-025 | Homan/Grand Trunk | 12/15/1993 | 2012 | $3,542,026 |
| T-026 | Howard-Paulina | 10/14/1988 | 12/31/2012 | $21,687,137 |
| T-031 | Near South | 1991 | 2014 | $694,223,201 |
| T-032 | Near West | 1996 | 2013 | $134,453,048 |
| T-040 | Roosevelt/Homan | 1992 | 2014 | $14,519,475 |
| T-041 | Ryan/Garfield | 12/18/1986 | 12/31/2008 | $5,868,966 |
| T-044 | Stockyards Industrial | 1989 | 2013 | $41,710,172 |
| T-046 | West Grand | 6/10/1996 | 2012 | $1,179,348 |
| T-047 | West Ridge/Peterson | 10/27/1986 | 12/31/2010 | $5,134,171 |
| T-049 | 89th/State | 4/1/1998 | 2013 | $3,866,450 |
| T-050 | West Pullman Industrial | 1999 | 2014 | $303,932 |
| T-051 | 26th-Kostner | 4/29/1998 | 12/31/2008 | $227,490 |
| T-080 | Addison/Kimball Industrial Park | 1/12/2000 | 12/31/2008 | $2,114,742 |
| T-120 | 45th/Western | 2002 | 2014 | $1,143,868 |
| T-132 | 40th/State | 3/10/2004 | 2013 | $0 |
| T-137 | Lakeside/Clarendon | 7/21/2004 | 2012 | $693,320 |
| T-159 | 134th/Avenue K | 2008 | 2014 | $25,540 |
| T-162 | Kostner Avenue | 2008 | 2014 | $2,798 |
| TOTAL | $2,018,933,115 |
The TIF research was coordinated by Lead Organizer Tom Tresser (www.tresser.com). Tom is a long time educator and organizer and Public Defender in Chicago. He was the co-founder of the CivicLab with Benjamin Sugar – America’s only co-working space dedicated to collaboration, education, fabrication and innovation for social justice and civic engagement. The CivicLab operated for two years in the West Loop and closed on June 30, 2015 (www.civiclab.us). In 2008 he was a co-founder of Protect Our Parks which sued to stop the privatization of Lincoln Park (www.protectourparks.org). In 2009 he was a co-organizer of No Games Chicago which worked to defeat the bid for the 2016 Olympics (www.nogameschicago.com).
The Research Coordinator for our 2014 analysis is Amy Beth Schoenecker, a Ph.D candidate in Political Science at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Our chief TIF Illuminators for this analysis were Liz Alejo, Pilar Amado, Nari Ho, Hsuan-Hui Hu, Yo Chi Lin, Kinga Pecak, Merle Tresser and Jack Wangelin. Over the past two years dozens of volunteers and interns pitched in at various times to help with a wide variety of research, mapping and graphic projects.
The TIF Illumination Project is online at http://www.tifreports.com. It has been all volunteer project up to now that has been revealing the impacts of TIFs at the ward level. We show how much property taxes are extracted from inside each ward by the TIFs IN that ward. We produce graphic posters that contain a map of the ward showing:
The shapes of all TIFs that are in the ward
How much revenue those TIFs took from properties just IN the ward
How much revenue FROM the ward was left in the in-ward TIF accounts at the end of the year
Who has received TIF funds inside the ward
Any schools being closed or experiencing recently announced budget cuts
How much money was transferred in our out of these TIFs
How much money the Department of Planning skimmed from these TIFs for its own use
The TIF Illumination Project distributes these graphic posters at TIF town meetings, or Illuminations, that have been independently organized by residents of the community. Since February of 2013 we have investigated and Illuminated 141 TIFs across 32 wards before over 4,400 people. Our heartfelt thanks to the dozens of volunteers who help organize these meetings.
The complete record of these is online at http://tifreports.com/tif-town-meetings. Presentations from these meetings can be purchased at our TIF Data Store at http://www.tifreports.com/store.
We have produced two TIF training videos via crowdfunding campaigns. “TIF 101” (22 minutes) explains the basics of Tax Increment Financing and features Professor Rachel Weber from the University of Illinois at Chicago and Cook County Clerk David Orr. “TIFs Off the Rails – Public Policy Problems with Chicago’s TIF Program (17 minutes) features Professor Richard Dye of the University of Illinois and Professor Stephanie Farmer of Roosevelt University. These videos are available on YouTube at http://www.tifreports.com/training_videos.
Although the CivicLab is closed we gratefully acknowledge the support of the Voqal Fund which helped keep the CivicLab going over the past two years and thus provided a base for the TIF Illumination Project to do its work.
Source: [email protected]
