Tax Integrity and Fairness Alliance (TIFa) will hold a Town Meeting February 12 2013
“The Tax Integrity and Fairness Alliance (TIFa) will hold a Town Meeting on the issue of TIF districts on Tuesday, February 12, from 7 to 9 pm, at the Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division, Chicago. TIFa is an open group dedicated to exposing and changing TIFs to help return public control to taxes and the budget.
TIFs were originally created to keep tax money within a “blighted” district and use it to redevelop that area. But since the introduction of TIF districts in Chicago in 1986, about half of the $4.5 billion extracted from general tax funds has gone to private development projects, many of them far from blighted communities. Major corporations receiving TIF funds include Hyatt, Target, Coca Cola, and United Airlines. That comes at the expense of Chicago Public Schools, libraries, parks, and other public assets.
In 2011 Chicago’s TIF program extracted $454 million in property taxes from 163 TIF districts. Thirty percent of the city is in a TIF district.”
eNews for Park Forest 18 February 2013