Tax-increment finance (TIF) districts have received much coverage over the past year from your paper and others across the metropolitan region. Often the coverage focuses on some controversy surrounding the expenditure of TIF dollars.
Last year, the Metropolitan Planning Council and the Civic Federation completed a study that concluded that greater public access to data on job creation, public/private investment rations and TIF fund balance would answer many of the questions regarding the impact and use of TIF funds. TIF districts are a necessary tool for the revitalization of older urban areas in the state; their benefits need to be better understood, and the controversy needs to be ended.
The fall veto session of the Illinois General Assembly presents the next opportunity to implement needed TIF reforms. House Bill 525 contains reasonable municipal reporting procedures that were drafted by MPC and the Civic Federation in conjunction with legislators and other constituent groups.
The City of Chicago set the standard for public accountability on TIF expenditures when Mayor Richard Daley adopted our reporting requirements by executive order last fall. The release of the first annual financial report on TIF expenditures is due Wednesday. We expect the report to clearly identify: all redevelopment agreements–including the amount of TIF assistance received and beneficiary of the assistance, estimates of job creation and retention, a ratio of public to private investment dollars, and the fund balance for each TIF district.
Passage of House Bill 525 this fall by the General Assembly would ease the controversy surrounding the use of TIF while preserving a critical tool for redevelopment.
