At least ONE of the major reasons. Because the state’s contribution to public education is so shockingly low, school districts in Illinois rely heavily on local property taxes to fund their schools. So, anything that diverts property taxes from public schools places a burden on an already under-funded public education system. Likewise, if you live in a town or city where the property tax revenues are high, your school system will be better off. From “Illinois Kids Count 2013.”

Sign the petition aimed at Mayor Emanuel – “Empty the TIF accounts!“

The Mayor has announced plans for hundreds of millions of dollars on tourism-related construction, including 10,000 seat basketball arena for DePaul University near McCormick Place. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the project will require $103 million in public finance and TIF-related dollars. Read DePaul’s description of the project.

When you read the hype, you hear phrases like “world-class destination” and “tourism mecca” being offered as visions for the city. The plan includes giving DePaul naming rights to the new stadium. The President of DePaul, Rev. Dennis Holtschneider said “I’d like to keep our student tuition from rising. Any way we can keep the cost down so I don’t have to put this on student tuition is a wonderful thing.” I’d like to keep my property tax bills down. I’d like to keep our public schools open and hire more teachers. I’d like to expand public transportation, not cut service. Giving DePaul, the largest Catholic university in America over $100 million of public dollars for a private stadium is a gross misuse of public funds.

DePaul’s 2013-2014_budget is expecting revenues of $629,557,366! Why do they need our $103 million for their facility?

It’s another example of…