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
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.
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!
Thanks to Marc Smith of Connected Action for gathering the links and graphing them.
The TIF Illumination Project has Illuminated 147 TIFs across 25 wards. Over 2,000 people have been at these meetings and over 40 media stories have been written about our work. We’d like to know what YOU think should now be done with or to the TIF Program in Chicago.
PLEASE TAKE A FEW MINUTES TO COMPLETE THIS SURVEY. THANK YOU!
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Can you help The CivicLab advance through the Knight News Challenge? We’re seeking support to evolve our Civic Illumination work. Please visit the site and comment. Thanks!
The CivicLab is helping to build the “I, Citizen Project” with the folks from the Museum of Contemporary Phenomena. This interactive experience will be unfolding at the Columbia College Glass Curtain Gallery in April.
I, Citizen – The Activist Game MAKERS Workshop from Helen Slade on Vimeo.
We launched the TIF Illumination Project at the Chopin Theater one year ago! What a wild ride it’s been. Here is an account of the work we’ve done. Comments are welcome.
Hey, they investigate us, why not return the favor?
Come to the CivicLab on Tuesday, February 18 for the workshop, “How to Research Elected Officials: The Good, The Bad and The Clearly Corrupt.”
This class is a 90-minute introduction to researching one or more elected officials or political candidates. Participants will learn:
On February 1 ten volunteer researchers braved the blankets of snow falling on Chicago to gather at the CivicLab to launch the next phase our our Civic Illumination work. We are now looking at the New Market Tax Credit Program and hedge fund activities in Chicago. This six minute video introduces the work and the reason for undertaking it. To get more details or to volunteer, contact Tom Tresser at tom@civiclab.us.
