Earlier this week, we posted a statement from Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley's office explaining what the average resident can do to combat the spread of Tax Increment Financing (TIF). In the comments section of that post, Yellow Dog Democrat offered some additional tips:

Complain...LOUDLY...to your alderman if you live in Chicago, as well as your state lawmakers. Aldermen allow Mayor Daley to abuse TIF districts right under our noses, and TIF districts are authorized and reauthorized by the state legislature.

If you're a member of your local chamber of commerce, Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, State Chamber of Commerce, or any other business or professional association, SPEAK OUT. When smart-minded business owners remain silent, policymakers assume that the aforementioned groups speak for them.

Meanwhile, the Reader's Ben Joravsky has a new article out that includes this great synopsis of how TIF works in Chicago:

As we all should know by now, Chicago’s TIFs are supposed to encourage commercial development within certain districts by freezing the property tax yield for up to 24 years. Any new property tax revenues generated in these districts thanks to rising property values go into the TIFs, which are basically bank accounts controlled by the mayor.

To compensate for the taxes they don’t get from the city’s 161 TIF districts, local taxing bodies—the schools, parks, county, etc—raise their tax rates. Don’t be fooled into thinking that TIFs only affect people who live in the districts. They result in citywide tax hikes.

Originally TIFs were intended to eradicate blight in low-income communities that would find it hard to attract investment otherwise. But the rules governing TIFs are so riddled with loopholes—and the oversight of the Community Development Commission and the City Council is so weak—that City Hall has been able to establish TIF districts pretty much anywhere it wants. That’s why such affluent communities as the Loop, the near south side, the near west side, Lincoln Park, and North Center have them. The TIFs have in effect created a second budget for Mayor Daley to control—one that except for extensive coverage in the Reader has been largely ignored by the press or the public. As scams go, it’s a beaut.

Joravsky goes on to highlight a recent court ruling in downstate Belleville that might pave the way for legal challenges to various Chicago TIFS.