Chicago Daily Observer

I’m sure there will be plenty of seats available when the Plan Commission meets Thursday to discuss Mayor Daley’s plans to borrow $85 million to buy and demolish Michael Reese hospital.

What’s that? You didn’t know the meeting was even on the calendar

In a recent comment on a blog post, Paul N. Keller, one of my favorite TIF attorneys, suggested that I haven’t read the state’s TIF act.

Oh my god, that is just, like, so not true. The state’s TIF act is one of my favorite reads. I keep a copy of it by my bed and read a passage every night before I go to sleep. It’s terse, transparent, and immediately comprehensible to anyone with even a rudimentary understanding of English.

City Hall is planning another subsidy for Block 37 — this time a three-phased bailout of an el station under construction there that’s running more than $100 million over budget.

Under plans that the Chicago Transit Authority board is scheduled to consider on Wednesday, the city would provide roughly $20 million in additional tax-increment financing funds for the “superstation” beneath the mixed-use project rising at Block 37, Crain’s has learned.

In addition, the CTA in several stages over the past year or so has poured an extra $60 million to $70 million of its own money into the project, despite its shortage of capital funds, sources say. And developer Joseph Freed & Associates, which is building the retail and residential structures on top of the station, reportedly has agreed to absorb about $19 million of the cost overruns.

First the good news: The city deferred action on its latest proposal for licensing concert promoters, originally set for tomorrow’s City Council meeting.

Some people have been naive enough to call it a victory, but don’t be fooled. The delay doesn’t protect all the small promoters and club owners and not-for-profits who want to throw fund-raising bashes. It’s merely what one alderman calls a “tactical retreat” on the part of the mayor.

Here’s the deal from several good City Hall sources, including an alderman or two.

The vendor’s licensing bill (commonly known as the promoter’s ordinance) has been resurrected because Mayor Daley wants it, and no one in City Hall has the guts to tell the mayor he can’t have what he wants.

Today’s Tribune offered former governor Jim Thompson’s promise of a solution to one of most baffling mysteries of our time: How the state can buy and fix up Wrigley Field without spending any public money.

Thompson, now head of the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, claimed to have solved what the article termed this “seemingly intractable puzzle.”

Unfortunately, Thompson offered few specifics, nor did he give up much of anything to the Sun-Times. In essence, his message amounted to “Trust me, you’ll see, there are ways . . .”

It’s almost enough to make you feel sorry for Sam Zell. All the guy’s doing is asking for a handout, the sort of thing Mayor Daley dishes out to developers all the time.

“The Trib’s Selling and We’re Not Buying,” read the front page of today’s Sun-Times. “Only Sam Zell and his Tribune Co., owners of the ballpark, stand to gain. And in an economic downturn, only the taxpayers stand to lose.”

The headline and accompanying editorial—which had me cheering over my morning coffee—are referring to the state’s proposal to use sales taxes to buy and rebuild Wrigley Field so whoever owns the Cubs can sell more tickets and concessions and make more money.

Just when the public has finally begun to show signs of seeing through the fog that surrounds tax increment financing, the state has floated the idea of a rigging up a new kind of TIF. When Sam Zell bought the Tribune Company, vowing to break it up and sell off the pieces, one of the most valuable pieces was the Cubs, Wrigley Field included. In January former governor Jim Thompson, chair of the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, revealed that Zell had come to him and Governor Blagojevich with a proposal to have the state buy Wrigley and use public money to pay for its makeover.

February 19 was a busy day at City Hall, as city officials gave the Daley administration the OK to jack up property taxes by untold hundreds of millions of dollars, virtually handed the mayor those millions to spend as he pleases, and threatened to kick a bunch of seniors out of their west-side homes.

The action was at the monthly meeting of the Community Development Commission, the mayorally appointed advisory group of lawyers, developers, city department heads and other Daley allies in charge of forking over TIF dollars. As you should know by now, TIFs place a cap on the amount of property taxes that go to the city, schools, parks, and other taxing bodies, diverting additional revenue ostensibly to fund development in districts deemed “blighted.” At this particular session the CDC recommended that the City Council approve the proposed Ogden/Pulaski tax increment financing district, which would encompass ... Read More...

Since its inception, the proposed Ogden-Pulaski TIF has stirred commotion among residents in North Lawndale.

Those who support the plan argue it provides a much needed strategy for catalyzing development in the community. Those who oppose the plan argue the community has not had a voice in its creation. Although the consensus appears to be that community development is needed in North Lawndale, many believe the current proposal is not sufficient and requires more resident input before implementation.

Last Tuesday, a public hearing was held at City Hall in front of members of the Community Development Commission. There, community members were given the opportunity to voice their support or concerns publicly before the TIF is passed into law.

Topic: Chicago’s Paul Revere on Tax Increment Financing

Tuesday, February 19, 2008 at 6:30 PM

TIME: 6:30 – 7:30 pm – Networking
7:30 pm – Program starts

LOCATION: The Lincoln Restaurant, 4008 N Lincoln Ave (773) 248–1820

Speaker: Ben Joravsky columnist for the Chicago Reader who specializes in TIFs or Tax Increment Finance districts. He began working as a freelance writer for the Chicago Reader in 1985 after specializing in investigative work for The Chicago Reporter, a monthly newspaper devoted to covering racial issues. Throughout his career, Joravsky has worked to uncover information that isn?t readily available to the public so he could shine light on issues affecting the life of Chicagoans. Tax Increment Financing affects way more than you might know. Come see how it affects you.

At the peril of veering from constant criticism of the Chicago Media, our editors have found reasons to cheer on our local publications on a variety of issues.

Here are 5 top examples of good reporting that made it through to publication, and even had follow-ups in some cases.

1) The CTA is in financial trouble. We not only know about it from 1st hand experience, all of the major media outlets carried stories about financial problems in our mass transit systems, an even considered a variety of proposals (including-gasp-higher fares) to fix the issue. Abstenteeism, lack of riders, muddy minded management, poorly planned capital projects all received at least a scrutinizing glance.

2) TIF District Mania. Ben Joravsky at the Chicago Reader has been accused of being obsessed with TIF districts: good for Ben. In Ben Joravsky and the Chicago Reader there is finally some oversight ... Read More...

On November 5, Roy Jones got the bad news from the Cook County treasurer’s office: the property taxes on his west-side condo have doubled. Shorenstein Properties, owner of the John Hancock building, is having a much better month: the tax bill for the iconic skyscraper is down 14.6 percent from last year.

Al Gore is to receive a Nobel prize for his crusade against global warming, which was the focus of his documentary movie, “An Inconvenient Truth.”
Back in Chicago, where Rich Daley has been mayor for 18-plus years, where corruption flourishes, and where property taxes are about to surge, there is also an “inconvenient truth” – namely: that Chicagoans love their mayor. Polar icecaps may be melting, and Al Sharpton may be invading Chicago, but there has been no cooling of popular affection for Daley. Not yet.
There are times – indeed, many times – when the mayor appears to be frazzled, fumbling, bumbling, and nearly incomprehensible, but these shortcomings are offset by the urban “livability index” theory. In short, when crime rates are declining, education performance is increasing, taxes are tolerable, city services are acceptable, property values are stable or growing, the economy is robust, and the city ... Read More...