The City of Chicago has set up 125 Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts. Your community may fall within the boundaries of a TIF District, or may be going through the process of being designated a TIF district. Neighborhood Capital Budget Group’s TIF Community Task Force has called on the Mayor and aldermen to be accountable to the public for decisions made about TIF. NCBG’s TIF Reform Platform calls on the City to hold “TIF Town Hall Meetings” twice a year to report to the public on TIF spending and planning.

As part of our 2002 TIF Reform Campaign, NCBG is helping community-based organizations organize local “TIF Town Hall Meetings.” Find out what the City has in store for your neighborhood: What kind of redevelopment will the TIF District subsidize? How has the City been spending the new tax revenue generated by your TIF District? How will the City spend future revenues? What developers are coming into your neighborhood TIF District?

Goals of a “TIF Town Hall Meeting”

1. Track what TIF dollars have already been spent. Find out about “Redevelopment Agreements,” and any other TIF subsidies.



2. Make sure that all community stakeholders know the details of redevelopment proposals for your neighborhood. This should include the City’s plans to acquire land or private property in the TIF District (“Land Acquisition” Map).



3. Inform the entire community of planned public improvements, and get their input for how the TIF could and should directly benefit long-time community stakeholders.



4. Learn which developers are coming into your neighborhood, what they plan to build, and meet with them face to face to educate them about the community’s concerns and values.



5. Get a progress report on what redevelopment projects are planned, are in “the pipeline,” or have been completed.



6. Get a progress report on whether or not TIF-subsidized redevelopment projects have created jobs for local residents.

Steps in Organizing the Event:

1. Contact your Alderman in writing to call for a “TIF Town Hall Meeting” to fully inform the residents and other stakeholders on the status of the TIF Redevelopment Plan.



2. Seek support for calling the meeting from other stakeholders in the neighborhood -- a local business association, Community Development Corporation, housing agency or local school/park advisory council (depending upon your particular TIF concerns and redevelopment budget).



3. Invite all the “key players” to the meeting! Who should take part in a TIF Town Hall Meeting?



• All community stakeholders: Homeowners, renters, small business operators, local manufacturing employers, representatives of Local School Councils, libraries or parks in or on the edges of the TIF district, social service agencies, and other community institutions..



• Your local Alderman(men)



• State Representative(s)



• Cook County Commissioner(s) -- NEVER FORGET: TIF is a property tax issue!



• The City’s Department of Planning & Development



• The City’s TIF planning consultant (authors of the TIF Eligibility Study and Redevelopment Plan), and



• Any known or proposed developers.


4. Send a letter to the City Commissioner of Planning and Development (DPD) Alicia Mazur Berg requesting the presence of her department at the meeting. Invite your DPD regional staff by calling 312.744.4190.



5. Request that the City report on your LOCAL TIF District Plan and expenditures. For instance, the City’s representatives should come prepared to report on . . .



• How much money has the TIF district generated?



• What is the most recent TIF fund balance?



• Update on Redevelopment Agreements: Who is being subsidized with TIF dollars, and for what kind of redevelopment project?



• What current redevelopment projects or land acquisition are “in the works”?
  
  
• Have TIF expenditures been in keeping with the original “Estimated TIF Redevelopment Budget”?
  
  
• What public works projects (infrastructure improvements or public facilities, including school construction) have been financed with TIF dollars?
6. If there’s a Citizen Representative from your TIF District who has been appointed to the “Joint Review Board,” be sure to invite that individual. Your local JRB representative is probably known to your regional DPD coordinator and should be communicating with DPD. (Special Note: As part of the State’s 1999 TIF Reform Act, a citizen representative must be appointed to the JRB from each TIF District created after the reforms were enacted in mid-1999.)



7. Publicize your Town Hall meeting to the community through mailings, print and radio media. Target local community newsletters for added marketing support.
Finally, post up NCBG’s TIF Reform Platform. Let the audience know that your group supports the NCBG’s TIF Reform Platform.

NCBG’s 2002 TIF Almanac can help INFORM & EMPOWER YOUR COMMUNITY. If you haven’t joined NCBG yet, join now, and get a free copy of the TIF Almanac for YOUR organization! For more information, technical and organizing support for your TIF Town Hall Meeting, contact John Paul Jones, NCBG Community Outreach Director at: jpjones@ncbg.org or 312.939.7198.