The following is an op-ed from Celeste Meiffren, field director with Illinois PIRG.
Yesterday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced that he will be immediately
implementing some of the reforms proposed by his Tax Increment Financing
(TIF) Reform Panel five months ago. All of the proposed reforms are
necessary to fix TIF and need to become law before more of our tax
dollars are wasted.
Every year, $500 million worth of property
tax revenue collected from Chicago taxpayers flows into a funding pool
that, up until very recently, has been completely off the books—allowing
for an out-of-control spending spree to well-connected developers and
other special interests. Read more »
The city announced that CME Group, Inc. financial exchange
elected to turn down $15 million in Tax Increment Financing, or TIF,
money.
The announcement came the same day that the Mayor’s office announced
TIF reform and two other companies – CNA Group and Bank of America –
also returned TIF money. Moreover, CME Group's announcement comes after Stand Up! Chicago delivered a golden toilet to the company’s downtown headquarters last week, partly in protest of their tax incentives.
Grassroots Collaborative offers a look at the "gross misuse" of tax increment financing funds in Chicago's downtown area, explaining how it comes at the expense of some already-struggling neighborhoods.
Community organizations declared city hall a crime scene this morning due to proposed cuts to basic city services in Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s budget proposal. The mayor's suggested cuts come while he is simultaneously advocating for tax breaks for profitable corporations. In Emanuel’s current version of the budget, just 20 percent of the tax increment financing (TIF) surplus is directed at aiding the city's more than $600 million budget gap. Activists and aldermen would like to see at least 50 percent of the $300 million surplus added to this year's budget as a way to avoid cuts to critical services.
“Corporate Chicago continues to have access to hundreds of millions of dollars of our tax dollars,” said Beniamino Capellupo, an organizer with Grassroots Collaborative who dressed up as Sherlock Holmes to investigate the crime scene. “The mayor and our alderman still have the chance to do the right thing by working families in Chicago and declare greater a TIF surplus so that our tax dollars keep our mental health clinics open, our schools vibrant and our libraries available.”
Take Back Chicago activists focused their efforts on the plight of Chicago schools yesterday targeting toxic financial deals and corporate welfare through tax increment financing districts (TIFs).
In the afternoon, more than 100 people set their sights on the Bank of America headquarters, a popular spot for protests this week, by marching through its lobby. Community groups, along with members of the Chicago Teachers Union, want the bank to renegotiate financial deals with Chicago Public Schools that they claim are costing the eductaion system $36 million every year.
The report released by Inspector General Joe Ferguson on Monday that documents developers being forced to donate taxpayer dollars to the politically-connected After School Matters underscores the point that the TIF system must be reformed.
It is troubling that Chicago taxpayer money was abused so egregiously by city officials. Even more worrisome, the city continues to lack transparency in TIF deals, allowing the continued possibility of corruption in taxpayer dollars.
Chicagoans rallied outside the downtown office of United Airlines yesterday, saying the airline should return the $31 million in TIF money the company has received since 2007.
The company has received $50 million in subsidies over the last four years and community leaders say taxpayers and their communities need their money back.
In their latest movement against “corporate welfare,” local community
leaders lead by the Grassroots Collaborative hit the Chicago Mercantile
Exchange.
With 10 children in school desks on the sidewalk on
Monroe Street near Wacker Drive in Chicago, the so-called
“street-theater” demonstration was staged as a class. Its main lesson:
how tax increment financing takes away money from schools.
Community leaders plan on sending a clear message to city council at tonight's hearing on TIF reform: "community leaders and taxpayers are saying ‘enough is enough.’ TIF money is the people’s money."
The following is an op-ed from Celeste Meiffren, field director with Illinois PIRG.
The city announced that CME Group, Inc. financial exchange
elected to turn down $15 million in Tax Increment Financing, or TIF,
money. 
Community organizations declared city hall a crime scene this morning due to proposed cuts to basic city services in Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s budget proposal. The mayor's suggested cuts come while he is simultaneously advocating for tax breaks for profitable corporations. In Emanuel’s current version of the budget, just 20 percent of the tax increment financing (TIF) surplus is directed at aiding the city's more than $600 million budget gap. Activists and aldermen would like to see at least 50 percent of the $300 million surplus added to this year's budget as a way to avoid cuts to critical services.
Take Back Chicago activists focused their efforts on the plight of Chicago schools yesterday targeting toxic financial deals and corporate welfare through tax increment financing districts (TIFs).
Chicagoans rallied outside the downtown office of United Airlines yesterday, saying the airline should return the $31 million in TIF money the company has received since 2007. 
In their latest movement against “corporate welfare,” local community
leaders lead by the Grassroots Collaborative hit the Chicago Mercantile
Exchange.
