You find out your neighborhood is being affected by TIFs. So what can you do about it? This fact sheet gives you the basics for organizing around the TIF issue in your neighborhood if a TIF is being proposed for the first time and in cases where a TIF has already been established.

Organizing Around a Proposed TIF

Before a TIF has even been passed is the best time to stop the TIF or to make the TIF plan into an economic development tool that will actually benefit your community. No community has been successful yet in stopping a TIF in Chicago, but there are many instances where the boundaries, goals, the acquisition map or the entire plan have been altered to reflect the concerns of active groups or individuals.

In many cases, people have been surprised by a TIF proposal in their neighborhood, and have not had enough time to act. This still occurs despite all the safeguards against it. That is why it is essential to have an ongoing relationship with your local Alderman, community organizations and community development corporations. Most recent TIFs were initiated by one of these bodies, almost always in coordination with the Alderman.

If you receive Community Development Commission (CDC) agendas, you will find out about the proposal when the city begins its eligibility study. The CDC must approve the beginning of this process, although there is no opportunity for public testimony at that CDC meeting.

Once you find out that a TIF is being proposed in your community, you will have several formal and informal opportunities to impact the process:

Informal:

• Community Planning Meetings: These probably will not happen without some encouragement. It is best to invite all of the stakeholders, and allow for real discussion about peoples’ goals for the neighborhood and the different tools that can be used to meet those goals. TIF is just another tool, and should be treated as such. It is important that people are educated on the specifics of TIF’s, and DPD should only be one resource. There are many other community organizations and individuals throughout the city who have experience with TIF and can assist in this education process.
• Meetings with the Alderman and DPD: Both of these parties can be included in the larger community meetings, but it is also important to have meetings specifically focused on presenting your community plans to the Alderman and DPD. In those meetings, the means for accomplishing that plan, whether it’s a TIF or not, should be presented. If you are supporting the TIF, this is a good time to demand that the Alderman and DPD support an oversight panel for the TIF.
• Contact With the CDC Members: While the CDC has never rejected a TIF, they have forced DPD to make changes to address community concerns. This all usually happens before the CDC hearing, so it makes sense to contact the CDC members before the hearing, and to ask that changes be made in the TIF plan.

Formal:

• Community Meeting: The City has started holding one meeting in the community about a proposed TIF. Testimony is heard at that meeting, and a large turnout will definitely improve your chances of impacting the TIF plan. If the TIF area includes at least 75 units of occupied housing or will cause displacement, the city must hold this community meeting at least 66 days before the public hearing at the CDC meeting. The city is required to mail a public notice to all residences at least 15 days before the local meeting.
• CDC Hearing: This is considered the main hearing for the TIF, although the proposal still must be voted on by the City Council. Notice must be published in a paper between 10 to 30 days in advance of that hearing, and every property must receive a notice at least 10 days in advance. Again, testimony will be heard, and having many people testify and support your plan will make an impact. Remember, however, that you will be more successful if this is not the first time that the CDC members have heard your points. Make sure that you have contacted them in advance of this hearing. Also, keep in mind that changes (for the better and the worse) can be made between the community meeting and the CDC hearing, so even if you support the plan, you should be there to hear those changes. The CDC will vote that day.

Good organizing for both the formal and informal processes is necessary to win all of the changes that you want to the plan. Just bringing lots of people to the community meeting and CDC hearing will not make a difference. Those people need to have a clear, coordinated vision for their community. On the other hand, even if you have organized a good public planning process and people are unified in their vision for the community, nothing will happen unless you present that vision to your alderman and the city through meetings and the hearing.

Information to Gather

When you first hear about a TIF, you should call DPD and your alderman to get the following information:

All of this information should be disseminated as widely as possible, so everyone understands the terms of the TIF. Some communities have been successful in making changes to the budget (adding items), the boundaries, the acquisition map (removing parcels), and the goals. These changes were made by constant lobbying of the local alderman, the DPD and the CDC. The Alderman generally has the most power in this process.

Organizing in an Existing TIF

The real impact of the TIF can only be seen once the TIF Redevelopment Plan is passed by the City Council. The plan itself only sets broad parameters for what projects could happen within the TIF. The changes that are made in the community will happen as each redevelopment agreement is passed and implemented.

A redevelopment agreement is an agreement between the City and a developer about the specifics of a development project. The CDC and the City Council must vote on each agreement if the developer is planning on using money from the TIF budget for the project.

If the developer wants to use public (TIF) money, you can impact this decision. The CDC will hold a public hearing downtown on the project, and the City Council will vote. As with the TIF, you can contact the CDC in advance, go to the hearing and testify, and work with your alderman to make sure the project is in line with what you want to see in the neighborhood.

The problem is often hearing about the project before it goes before the CDC. Again, it is important to remain in contact with your alderman, since the developers often will begin by discussing their plan with the alderman. It is also important to be on the TIF Registry of Interested Parties, a recent reform that requires the City to send out notices of certain TIF activities to interested individuals and organizations.

The best way to control the development that happens in a TIF is to approach developers about the projects that fit into your vision for the neighborhood, and coordinate with the alderman and the developer. This will jump start the development in the TIF, since it often takes years for there to be any action. Also, the Alderman is often more likely to work for a project that the community supports.

Several community organizations are currently fighting for the development of affordable housing in their TIF’s, and against high end commercial development and big box stores. This fight, however, will take persistence over the 23-year life of the TIF.