Category: News
“TIF 101” Presentation Now Online
Want to take a crash course in Tax Increment Financing? If so, watch this 33 minute video that will introduce the topic and reveal the details of TIF in Chicago and the work of the TIF Illumination Project. The presenter is CivicLab co-founder, Tom Tresser, who is the Lead Organizer for the TIF research and presenter at TIF town meetings. The video is on this page. It’s password protected and we’re asking a contribution of $5.00 to get the password. All our work is 100% volunteer driven but we’ve some bills to pay and plans to expand. You’re welcome to invest more in our work, of course! Please use this PayPal link to make your payment. When we receive notice of your payment we’ll email you the password.
“TIF 101” Returns To The CivicLab
23rd Ward TIF Illumination Coming Aug 27
Join us on Wednesday, August 27 at 6pm at the Kennedy High School. 6325 W. 56th Street, for our 22nd TIF Town Meeting! We’ll be lluminating the six Tax Increment Financing Districts that wander through the 23rd ward.
Says event organizer Anna Corral, “it’s important that the families and communities are constantly aware of where the money is going, what it is funding and if it’s being used in the correct manner.” Get the details and RSVP via Facebook.
Download flier in English = 23rdWard_flier
Download flier in Spanish = 23rdWard-Spanish
Download the flier in Polish = 23rdWard-Polish
Theater Of Public Policy Really Engaging!
The Theater of Public Policy combines current events with improv comedy sketches to illuminate current issues!
Media Picks Up On TIF Research
The TIF Illumination Project recently published its review of Chicago’s 2013 TIF activity.
Here is coverage and analysis from the International Business Times [they recently purchased Newsweek].
Lead organizer Tom Tresser was on Chicago Public Radio.
Tom was interviewed on WVON August 4, 2104 (29 minutes).
Extensive interview on the Heartland Institute’s August 7, 2014 podcast. http://tinyurl.com/Heartland-TIF-podcast
2013 TIF Research Released
The TIF Illumination Project has reviewed all 151 annual reports of the city’s Tax Increment Financing districts. At the end of 2013 the city’s TIF accounts held $1.71 BILLION in property tax dollars! This is a modest increase from 2012. A full report on our 2013 research is here.
The TIF Illumination Project is completely volunteer driven but we can really use your contribution so that we can publish all our work in multiple formats. Donate via PayPal here.
Warm Cookies Of The Revolution – a CivicLab in Denver
Check out the amazing Warm Cookies of the Revolution in Denver. They started about the same time we did.
Can the Revolution be fun? from Warm Cookies of the Revolution on Vimeo.
County Releases 2013 TIF Data
Cook County Clerk David Orr leads the way in TIF data services! He released his summary of 2013 TIF data today. Chicago’s 151 TIF districts (3 were cancelled) extracted $422 million. 284 suburban TIFs extracted $261 million. We’ll be combing the data for insights over the next wee. Thank you, Clerk Orr!
“How To Write A Kick Ass Mission Statement” 7/16
July 16, 7pm – 8:30pm @ The CivicLab, 114 N. Aberdeen Street.
In the nonprofit world nothing happens without a powerful and distinctive mission statement. Everything your organization does stems from the mission statement. A compelling mission is why people support you, why funders fund you and why volunteers donate their labor to you.
This is a hands-on workshop where we will:
- review the elements of a great mission statement
- learn to create a positioning statement
- review great examples of mission statements
- have a chance to look at attendees existing and proposed mission statements and improve them
- discuss tag lines and other ways to get across your organization’s mission quickly
The instructor is Tom Tresser, co-founder of the CivicLab. The CivicLab is the 13th social enterprise that Tom has led or started.
The cost for this workshop is just $10 and all the proceeds go to the operation of the CivicLab. Register online here: https://mission-statement-7-16.eventbrite.com.