Are YOU In A TIF District? Get Illuminated?

TIF_Illumination-3Now you can get your own personal TIF Ilumination! For the absurdly low price of $25 we will tell you:

(1) If you are in a TIF District.

(2) If you are, then we will tell you the name of the TIF, when it was created, how much money it extracted in 2012, how much money was left in the TIF at the end of 2012, what major projects were funded by it, AND what percent of YOUR property tax bill was taken by that TIF.

(3) If you are NOT in a TIF we can either convert your fee to a non-deductible contribution, give you credit to an upcoming CivicLab workshop or refund the fee minus PayPal’s service fee. To avoid this option, simply look at your current property tax bill. If you see a name of a TIF district on there, then, buckeroo, you’re being TIF’d.

All funds we receive go to support the operation of the CivicLab, which is 100% volunteer operated. Once we receive notice of payment we’ll email you for your address. We’ll get you a report in 24 hours!



Take A Class At The Lab!

EventBrite_screen Build a web site. Plan healthy
meals. Grow plants without soil.
Get smart on TIFs. Understand
Chicago’s finances. Use spreadsheets
effectively. Find the dirt on your
Alderman. Use design wisely.
Get the inside scoop on food trucks.

You do all these things at the CivicLab.
Take a super affordable workshop at
the Lab. Go to EventBrite to see the
current listings and to register.

If YOU would like to teach a workshop, contact us at info@civiclab.us.

MoveOn Supports Petition Campaign!

MoveOn-TIF_petition
MoveOn has awarded the CivicLab a $1,000 Opportunity Fund grant to support the TIF IlluminationProject’s online petition drive aimed at getting the $1.7 billion in property tax funds that were in TIF accounts on January 1, 2013 distributed to the units of government that should’ve received those funds in the first place. Over 3,000 people have signed in three weeks! Thanks, MoveOn!

AREA Chicago Distributes 5,000 Copies Of TIF Poster

AREA+TIF_Poster

Thanks to the great folks at AREA Chicago we are distributing 5,000 copies of the TIF Illumination Project’s graphic poster showing the results of our investigation of the 12 TIFs inside the 27th Ward. Awesome! The poster was written by Tom Tresser based on data research lead by Cory Mollet and designed by Carlyn So. The Spring 2013 issue focuses on housing.