[Update 6/18: Added photos after the jump.] Speaking of the pocket park, the photo below was taken there earlier this week. Also, grass and weeds are growing between the stones and a broken window adorns the west wall.
Category: TIF
Error Correction: FY2011 TIF Surplus
In “City & School District TIF Surplus Budget Surplus Budget Estimates”, I put up a chart showing a City of DeKalb TIF 1 surplus for FY2011 (to be budgeted for FY2012) of $221,000. While this part is correct, I somehow at the time failed to understand that this was only the amount of the surplus…
Ellwood Historic Neighborhood Meetings
The following is a summary of documents obtained from the City of DeKalb involving a group from the 5th Ward, the City of DeKalb, and the Center for Governmental Studies (CGS) at NIU. The 5th Ward group was first called a “task force” although it has never been an official city committee. Now, the informal…
Chicago’s New Mayor Promises TIF Reform
From yesterday’s Sun Times: Tax Increment financing should be used to create jobs in “blighted communities”— not to reward downtown developers, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Thursday, vowing to take the “politics out of” former Mayor Richard M. Daley’s favorite economic development tool. Emanuel has asked former CTA Board Chair and municipal finance expert Carole Brown…
Expenditure Info, Central Area TIF Annual Reports FY2008-10
The following table was developed using the itemized expenditures pages of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) annual reports, Central TIF (TIF 1) only. [table id=15 /]
TIF Rally in Downtown Chicago
Community leaders voiced support yesterday for a re-evaluation of how TIF funds are allocated in Chicago. Gathered in front of the Chicago Board of Trade, 141 W. Jackson, they stressed the need for tax-increment financing money in neighborhoods and questioned the reasoning behind TIF funds for successful multi-million dollar corporations. The Mercantile Exchange received $15…
The Egyptian, TIF, & the Survival Budget
The Daily Chronicle published my comments on this lovely Friday the 13th. In Thursday’s editorial, “Egyptian worth the investment,” the Daily Chronicle’s editorial board asserted that an improved Egyptian Theatre would be a plus for downtown. I agree. However, something’s been missed in the analysis: a peek into our collective wallet.
City of DeKalb’s EAV Plunge, Part 2
Click on the image for a larger version, and once more for the largest. Each “Decline” was calculated by subtracting Tax Year 2010 from the peak year shown. Usually the peak came in 2008, but not in all cases. Should we really be budgeting new TIF projects for FY2012?
FY2011 TIF Surplus
Per an intergovernmental agreement, the City of DeKalb promised to declare a 50% surplus of the Central Area TIF (aka TIF 1) increment for each of the 12 years of the extended and amended TIF district. The surplus will be paid to all taxing bodies in the same proportions as the regular property taxes are,…
TIF & Schools
The Daily Register has reprinted a recent article by the AP’s Zachary Colman. LA SALLE, Ill. (AP) — One of the most popular rooms at LaSalle’s Dimmick Elementary School is the library-turned-computer-lab-turned-classroom. Children jostle for elbow room and can’t use the library at all when class is in session. Down the hall, the school counselor…