Monthly Archives: April 2013

Pass The Privatization Transparency Ordinance

Privatization_Ordinance-coverIs your alderman on the list of sponsors of the Privatization Transparency Ordinance”? If so, call them and tell them to get it out of Alderman Mell’s committee and have voted on by the full City Council.

The sponsor is 6th Ward Alderman, Roderick Sawyer. He said, upon introducing this bill in November of 2012, “I do not believe that there are no good privatization deals, I just think we should be clear about which deals are in the best interest of the city and which are not.  I have a concern about touting a monetary savings if we haven’t thought about the people that will lose a job, the families that could lose a home and the local businesses that could lose a loyal customer. ”
Download the proposed law here  – Privatization Transparency and Accountability Ordinance. Read it for yourself.

If our City Council can’t pass this, they should all be fired in the 2015 municipal elections.

Englewood Neighborhood TIF Illuminated May 4

Englewood_flier-smallJoin us in Englewood on Saturday, May 4 at 10am at the Kelly Library when we Illuminate just one TIF. We will be exposing the Englewood Neighborhood TIF that morning. Details and RSVP via Facebook @ http://tinyurl.com/TIF-Forum-May-4.

To get you in the mood to Illuminate, take this quick multiple choice question.

If you live inside the Englewood Neighborhood TIF, you would see that it is shown on your property tax bill as having “0” impact – that is, no property taxes taken. However, the TRUE percentage of your property taxes gobbled up by that TIF is:

(a) 16%
(b) 27%
(c) 48%
(d) 68%

We’ll reveal the answer, and many more amazing facts about TIFs, on May 4!

46th Ward Gets Illuminated April 11!

46th_Ward_Forum_flier Join us at The Peoples Church on April 11 at 7pm when we Illuminate the six TIFs inside the 46th Ward. If the last five TIF town meetings are any guides, then this meeting is going to ROCK! You can get the details and RSVP via Facebook @ http://tinyurl.com/TIF-Forum-April-11.

We invite to learn what TIFs are doing in YOUR community. TO schedule a TIF Illumination for your ward, email tom@civiclab.us.

AREA Chicago Distributes 5,000 Copies Of TIF Poster

AREA+TIF_Poster Thanks to the great folks at AREA Chicago we are distributing 5,000 copies of the TIF Illumination Project’s graphic poster showing the results of our investigation of the 12 TIFs inside the 27th Ward. Awesome! The poster was written by Tom Tresser based on data research lead by Cory Mollet and designed by Carlyn So. The Spring 2013 issue focuses on housing.

8th and 9th Ward TIFs Illuminated

Review the presentation deck and listen to the audio (47 minutes) from the TIF Town Meeting held on April 6 at Chicago State University. 9th ward Alderman Anthony Beale came in about half-way through the presentation and stayed to answer a number of heated questions from attendees.

Talking_TIFs_CSU

 

8th & 9th Ward Double Illumination

April_6_TIF_Forum-smallJoin us at Chicago State University on Saturday, April 6. We will be Illuminating the many, many TIFs inside the 8th and 9th Wards. Details and RSVP at Facebook = http://tinyurl.com/TIF-Forum-April-6

The evolving schedule and documentation of past meetings is at http://tifreports.com/tif-town-meetings.

Coverage Of 7th Ward Illumination

7th_Ward_TIF_ForumIn 30+ years of civic engagement work I’ve never seen a project take off like this. This was the fourth TIF town meeting in seven weeks. There are four more coming up and four more after that in the works!

From Progress Illinois, “Dozens of South Shore residents weren’t too happy upon learning that a portion of their property taxes have been used as part of the city’s tax increment financing, or TIF, program.

Tom Tresser, co-founder of the CivicLab, came to the 7th Ward, and is heading to others, as part of the volunteer-based TIF Illumination Project, which is intended to promote TIF transparency and provide Chicago residents with a snapshot of what the program is — or isn’t — doing for their communities.

“I can’t believe that it’s so much money that’s out there that the community does not know about that’s not channeling back into our community, especially with all the schools closing,” Renita Jones, a South Shore resident of more than 14 years, said after Saturday’s meeting.

“It’s just amazing to me that (the city is) saying there’s no funds, and we have millions of [TIF] dollars that’s available that’s going to the corporate district, but the lower-class people are suffering from it,” Jones added.”