TIF Illumination Project Co-Founder Analyzes Tribune TIF Story
By Jim Vail
The Chicago Tribune is not a paper for the working people. It is run by big business interests who do not want unions, an increase in the minimum wage or the public commons - meaning they are against public schools, public housing, public regulatory agencies, etc.
One of the biggest stories they have chosen to ignore is the Tax Increment Financing or TIF program - where tax dollars are frozen and instead of going to the schools and other city budget items, instead go to developers who are mostly building luxury housing for the rich.
It is an incredible scam where our taxes are going up as our city budgets get worse. The TIF program was supposed to help poor areas in the city, but instead we are funding wealthy areas on the North Side.
Ben Joravsky from The Chicago Reader has detailed the TIF scam to educate people here how much we are getting ripped off. Tom Tresser who helped start the TIF Illumination Project to inform people about this rich tax scam has educated people in public meetings across the city.
But the Chicago Tribune has mostly stayed silent. Until recently when it reported on the latest TIF scam - the $1.3 billion Lincoln Yards TIF. Mayor Lori Lightfoot is about to again ask Chicago taxpayers to come up with more money to support the city budget.
This is what Tresser said about the Trib story:
Tresser will be hosting a workshop on TIFs in Wicker Park next Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2019 from 7 - 10pm at the Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave.
You can read the Trib story here: http://digitaledition.chicagotribune.com/infinity/article_share.aspx?guid=0d1b1aca-8248-4241-b214-8e462d1b1aa9&fbclid=IwAR10UWQkZsfqtTfA9Q8TTJu72pOqquIqAysG18phaRN6x8gfpuYFHZCl2Sw
By Jim Vail
The Chicago Tribune is not a paper for the working people. It is run by big business interests who do not want unions, an increase in the minimum wage or the public commons - meaning they are against public schools, public housing, public regulatory agencies, etc.
One of the biggest stories they have chosen to ignore is the Tax Increment Financing or TIF program - where tax dollars are frozen and instead of going to the schools and other city budget items, instead go to developers who are mostly building luxury housing for the rich.
It is an incredible scam where our taxes are going up as our city budgets get worse. The TIF program was supposed to help poor areas in the city, but instead we are funding wealthy areas on the North Side.
Ben Joravsky from The Chicago Reader has detailed the TIF scam to educate people here how much we are getting ripped off. Tom Tresser who helped start the TIF Illumination Project to inform people about this rich tax scam has educated people in public meetings across the city.
But the Chicago Tribune has mostly stayed silent. Until recently when it reported on the latest TIF scam - the $1.3 billion Lincoln Yards TIF. Mayor Lori Lightfoot is about to again ask Chicago taxpayers to come up with more money to support the city budget.
This is what Tresser said about the Trib story:
¨I am in favor of any major local media throwing a critical light on TIFs. But Hal's story goes deep into the weeds and, while it raises some what I would call procedural questions - was the accounting done properly, was the entire process rushed - my main objection is to the entire TIF program. It is racist and irredeemable. So - if the Lincoln Yards TIF was NOT rushed and the Council took more time and STILL approved it - in Hal's view - it would be OK. For me, I don't care how long the process takes or what sets of numbers is used to get through the process - it is corrupt and run by corrupt people (Aldermen Solis, Burke, Hopkins, O'Connor, Cappelman). There is no justification for giving a billionaire (Sterling Bay's Keating Crown) $1.4 billion in public subsidies to build out a bloated and ludicrous development in Lincoln Park that includes $400 million in bloated and immoral finance fees. Period. A total of one thousand people came to two community meetings to say essentially this.¨
Tresser will be hosting a workshop on TIFs in Wicker Park next Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2019 from 7 - 10pm at the Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave.
You can read the Trib story here: http://digitaledition.chicagotribune.com/infinity/article_share.aspx?guid=0d1b1aca-8248-4241-b214-8e462d1b1aa9&fbclid=IwAR10UWQkZsfqtTfA9Q8TTJu72pOqquIqAysG18phaRN6x8gfpuYFHZCl2Sw
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