An oversight panel required by state law to review how Chicago spends tax money on redevelopment projects met Wednesday for the first time in nearly eight years.
After failing to hold 30 scheduled meetings since 1989, three representatives from various Chicago taxing bodies convened Wednesday to listen to city planners and a developer describe how they hope to rejuvenate an area at 95th Street and Stony Island Avenue with the construction of a major grocery store and retail shops.
The panel, which is called the Joint Review Board, is supposed to review the creation of all new tax increment financing districts, called TIFs, and sometimes review proposed agreements with developers.
The failure of the panel to meet over the years has been the target of critics who contend that other local taxing bodies, which are represented on the Joint Review Board, have relinquished their watchdog role over the city’s erosion of their tax base.
Mayor Richard Daley has been a big proponent of TIFs and the city now has 44 such districts, including most of the Loop. The TIF districts use taxes generated by new development in the designated areas to pay for subsidies to developers, for construction of public improvements and to condemn property. During the lifetime of a district, which can last for 23 years, other taxing bodies, such as public schools, can’t tap the new tax revenues generated by the new development in the districts.
Ald. Helen Shiller (46th) said Wednesday’s meeting apparently came about because of the “heat and attention” on the panel and possibly because other taxing bodies “are beginning to feel the pinch” in terms of lost revenues as a result of the creation of the districts.
Members of the panel Wednesday reviewed a proposed agreement with a developer to construct a Jewel-Osco complex at the site, along with other retail shops. The plan was approved with only a single question posed by a member.
Only three members of the six-member panel attended Wednesday’s meeting, representing the city, the Chicago Park District and City Colleges of Chicago. No one from Cook County government or the Chicago Public Schools attended. Another member, to be appointed from the public at large, has never been designated even though state law requires it.
A spokeswoman for the city’s Law Department said “steps are being taken” to name a public member.
