CHICAGO, March 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — The CivicLab released the results of the first ever TIF Illumination for ALL the Tax Increment Financing Districts for Illinois for the year 2020. The project was made possible by a grant from the MuckRock Foundation via its Gateway Grants program.
The analysis reviewed 1,454 TIF districts from 535 municipalities across 95 counties.
TIF districts are special entities created by a municipality in the name of “economic development” that captures and sequesters property tax dollars in secretive accounts controlled by local mayors. TIFs remove property taxes from the proper public flow or distribution to units of local government who rely on property taxes for operation. TIFs divert public funds FROM public schools, parks, and essential services with virtually no oversight.
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ILLINOIS TIF ILLUMINATION FOR 2020 |
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1,454 TIFs |
535 municipalities |
95 counties |
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$1,514,541,902 in property taxes removed |
$1,175,252,346 spent by all TIFs |
$2,260,726,676 LEFT in accounts year end |
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$578,930,223 = $ moved, transferred (38%) |
$341,833,541 total debt financing across 316 TIFs (30% of all expenditures) |
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Missing TIF reports = 79 from 36 municipalities |
TOTAL ILLINOIS TIF TAKINGS 1980-2020 = $25 billion |
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“Our research reveals some startling numbers,” said TIF Illumination Project organizer Tom Tresser. “Over $1.5 billion in property taxes have been removed from public circulation by Illinois’ TIF districts in 2020. These secretive critters spent about $1.2 billion and collectively paid debt finance charges of $342 million. We hope this report will spur local investigations into this opaque and unaccountable program across the state.”
The details and a spreadsheet are available at https://tifreports.com/illinois-illumination. There you will find totals by municipality by county, and lists of TIFs sorted by several criteria, including municipalities with five or more TIFs. You will see the reflections of our Illuminators after crawling through hundreds of these annual reports, and much more.
The CivicLab is a Chicago based Black-led nonprofit “do tank” to advance work in government accountability, civic engagement, and social justice. Our work is at http://www.civiclab.us – http://www.tifreports.com – http://www.wearenotbroke.org – http://www.powerinstitute.us.
Thre TIF Illumination Project is the only civic project in America that thoroughly interrogates Tax Increment Finance Districts and their impact on communities of color. This work has spawned over 185 public meetings, 40 open enrollment workshops, and alliances with economic justice activists in 14 cities – https://tifreports.com/tif-organizing-services.
More information: Tom Tresser
[email protected] – 312-804-3230
SOURCE The CivicLab
