It’s four TIF Illuminations in January!
Don’t miss out. Contact us if you want YOUR ward Illuminated!
Join our new crowdfunding campaign to produce “The TIF Hall of Shame.”
Category: Civic Illumination
“TIF 101” Video Now Live!
We are super proud of producing our first online TIF training video, “TIF 101”! You can watch the 20 minute video right here:
Thanks to the 80 people who contributed to this project.
We are now asking everyone to join our SECOND crowdfunding campaign so we can produce the next video in our projected series of five videos. The next video is “The TIF Hall of Shame” and will focus on the abuses and contradictions in Chicago’s massive TIF program. You won’t want to miss this!
“TIF Atlas” Now On Sale!
Now you can own the data that has been driving the TIF Illumination Project all over the city for the past 18 months! Download your very own “TIF Atlas of Chicago Wards” at the TIF Data Store.
We’re using the new ward maps and you’ll see the shapes and names of all the TIF districts as well as the projects funded by TIFs IN EACH WARD. The projects are numbered and all you have to do is look to the appendix in the back of the Atlas to see the name, address, developer and amount of TIF dollars that went to that project. BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE! We also plot on each ward map all the schools that were CLOSED or cut in 2013. In the back we list the closed schools and list all the cuts that we know of for each public school. More info: tom@civiclab.us.
TIFs + Schools in Illinois
Check out Tom Tresser’s article in the Fall 2014 issue of The Journal of School Business Management on “Tax Increment Financing in Illinois.” This piece was aimed at all the Chief Financial Officers of school districts across Illinois and America!
Starting in 2015 the TIF Illumination Project will Illuminate entire school districts just like we’ve done for 30 wards across Chicago! Contact tom@civiclab.us for more details.
11th Ward Illuminated
It was another full house for a TIF town meeting, or Illumination, as we fondly call these community gatherings. We lit up the TIFs of the 11th ward.
About 60 people packed the community room at the First Trinity Lutheran Church on 31st Street. You can see the Twitter comments if you search for #11taxtricks. The event was partially sponsored by Friends of Maureen Sullivan, who is running for alderman. Read coverage in Progress Illinois and DNAinfo Chicago.
Here’s what one attendee, Ve Castillo, posted online: “Thank you Thomas Tresser (CivicLab) and Daniel Eugene Pugh-Barnett for the eye-opening experience regarding TIFs in the 11th Ward. Unbelievable and still in awe.”
You can see part of the presentation:
To download the entire deck, including the particulars of the 11th ward, visit the TIF Data Store.
To find out more about our TIF training, research and community meetings email us at info@civiclab.us.
11th Ward TIFs To Be Exposed Dec 4
Join us on December 4 when we Illuminate the 11th Ward! We’ll be at The First Trinity Lutheran Church, Community Room, 643 W. 31st Street from.
7:00pm to 9:00pm. Details here. Contribute to our crowdfunding campaign to produce five TIF training videos.
TIF Project Included In New Book From SAIC
Tom Tresser has an article in Art Against the Law from the School of the Art Institute (edited by Rebecca Zorach), “The TIF Illumination Project and Civic Imagination.” Check it out at http://tinyurl.com/ArtxLaw.
27th Ward Illuminated (Again)
It was a star-studded 25th TIF Illumination Project town meeting on November 7, 2014 at VenueOne when we Illuminated the 12 TIFs of the 27th Ward.
Here is part of the presentation. The full version, including all the details of the TIF activity for the 27th Ward for 2013 (it’s staggering) is available for $2.50 at our TIF Data Store.
The meeting was hosted by Gabe Buekinga, candidate for Alderman of the 27th Ward. Joining us were former State Senator (and alderman of the 27th Ward) Ricky Hendon and 2nd Ward Alderman Bob Fioretti, candidate for mayor.
CivicLab Launches First Crowdfunding Project!
Do you want EVERYONE to get Illuminated? If you do, will you please make an investment in our first crowdfunding campaign? The TIF Illumination Project is seeking to raise $15,000 to produce five twenty minute videos on all aspects of the TIF Program in Chicago. Even if you live outside of Chicago you can pitch in because the basic truths and abuses we document here are applicable across the USA as 47 states have Tax Increment Financing Programs. Learn more and invest here.
We will use these funds to pay the videographers and to support the ongoing operations of the CivicLab. We’ll be posting updates and script outlines on the TIF Reports web site on this page.
Interview Reveals (Mostly) All About Tom
CivicLab co-founder Tom Tresser was interviewed for the master designer series of podcasts produced by the American Design and Master-Craft Initiative. The podcst is 47 minutes long. What does Tom have to do with design? Well might you ask. You’ll just have hunker down and listen. Hint – Tom used to be an actor, theater producer and arts activist.