Join 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/
The evolving schedule and documentation of past meetings is at http://tifreports.com/
In 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.”
Join us in South Shore on Saturday, March 30 to talk TIFs in the 7th Ward. We’ll be Illuminating the five active TIFs there. Preview: In 2011 those TIFs extracted $1.4 million from property owners in the 7th Ward.
Details of the event on Facebook.
TIF Illuminators Tom Tresser and Bea Jasper (organizer of the Englewood TIF Town Meeting) will be on “The GreenPreneur Show” on WVON on Saturday night, March 23, from 5-6pm. Listen live here. The call in number is 773-591-1690. Let’s talk TIFs on the South Side. Our next TIF Town Meeting is in South Shore on March 30. Connect with the TIF Illumination Project.
I presented on the six TIFs in the 20th Ward at the Washington Park TIF Town Meeting. Wow. It was packed. Cliff Kelley was the emcee and the attendees had LOTS of questions. We are on to something with the TIF Illumination Project! Below are the presentations plus audio (56 minutes).
Thanks to the great folks at CAN-TV you can watch the February 12 TIF Town Meeting produced by The Tax Integrity and Fairness Alliance at the Chopin Theater (1 hour, 22 minutes). View the media coverage and my presentation materials on the impacts of the 12 TIFs inside the 27th Ward here.
I’ll be presenting at a community town meeting on TIFs on February 12 at the Chopin Theater! Find out the details and RSVP on Facebook.
Featured Speakers:
At the end of 2011 there was $1.39 billion left in TIF bank accounts, yet the City claimed a budget deficit of $636 million at the start of 2012. 30% of Chicago is a TIF district!
The Tax Integrity and Fairness Alliance is hosting a Town Meeting to spread knowledge and demand change on Tuesday, February 12th from 7-9pm, at the Chopin Theatre, 1543 West Division.
Featured Breakout Groups: Citizen Investigation, “Become a TIF Illuminator” with Tom Tresser. Participatory Budgeting, “Design Your Own Utopia” with Sharon Post of Chicago Political Economy Group. “Grassroots Organizing,” with Steven Serikaku, retired CTU teacher and PDA-IL activist. Speak up. Bring your questions!
Download a flier = TIF Town Meeting flyer / Download the press release = TIF Town Hall press release
I’m doing a webinar on December 13 for the Northeast chapters of the National Network of Statewide Afterschool Networks on power and social change. “Are nonprofit leaders, workers and constituents doing enough to advance the causes of social change, social justice and compassion in America? How is the nonprofit sector doing, as a whole? Are we strong, healthy, powerful, fighting and winning for the kids we care so much about? Who is winning politically and policy-wise in America and what can we learn from them? Is there some uncharted territory that may hold NEW solutions to old problems in this arena?’
I’ll be doing a talk and workshop on “Using Technology For Social Change & Community Organizing” at the Bronzeville Visitor Information Center, Friday, November 30, 2-4pm. 3401 South King Drive.RSVP to 773-819-2053.
I’ll be in St. Louis on March 16 and 17 as part of the Occupy The Midwest Regional Conference. Join me and thousands of activists, concerned citizens and Occupiers under the Gateway Arch. I’ll be presenting on the No Games Chicago campaign and also “Community Organizing 101.” You can see the presentations at my teaching web site.