Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Politics / Clout City Chicago's TIF scam: kids don't matter
Posted by Ben Joravsky on 10.04.11 at 05:11 PM
Just when I think I've figured out every little detail in the ongoing $500 million-a-year TIF debacle, along comes a new one.
In this case, kudos to Inspector General Joe Ferguson for blowing the whistle on an interesting arrangement in which unnamed officials in former Mayor Richard Daley's administration successfully convinced TIF recipients into donating to After School Matters, a charity founded by Maggie Daley
Where to start? And you know, it's just a start. I have a feeling this deserves far more than one blog bit.
Okay, not wanting to trash After School Matters.
Cause I'm sure there's a lot of people there who do lots of wonderful things for kids — like exposing them to music, art, drama, dance, etc. — though you should read Deanna Isaacs's story to judge for yourself.
But ...
Let's just try to put this whole thing into perspective.
The mayor takes roughly $250 million a year in desperately needed property tax dollars from our nearly bankrupt public schools and feeds them into a slush fund.
He then disperses money from that fund to well-connected developers and or corporations who don't really need a public hand out at all.
And they in turn donate money to the mayor's wife's favorite charity, which promotes after-school programs in the arts for children whose schools are too broke to have their own art programs. Because the mayor takes $250 million a year in desperately needed property tax dollars....
And so we go round and round in the TIF circle game.
Okay, sorry. I'll slow down. Let me take my pills. Breathe, Ben, breathe. Ah, feeling better already....
You know, not every town around here runs like Chicago. Why I can think of some where they just spend pretty much whatever it takes to have the best art/music/drama school programs money can buy.
In the New Trier school district, for instance, where Mayor Rahm happened to go to school.
Can you imagine, by the way, if they ran an arts program in Wilmette like the one they have in Chicago? Where they pretty much did away with art and music in the public schools and had the kids depend on the kindness of strangers who donate to the mayor's wife's favorite charity?
Somehow I think the good folks in New Trier wouldn't go for that.
And like I always say — if it was good enough for Mayor Rahm, it should be good enough for all kids.
Speaking of Mayor Rahm, he shows no signs of wanting to meaningfully change the TIF scam. By my count he could hire over 100 art and/or music, drama teachers just with the $7 million in TIF funds he intends to give to the developer who's building a grocery store in Greektown.
That grocery store happens to be across the street from another grocery store. Cause — as well all know — what Chicago really needs is more grocery stores in Greektown!
Anyway, thank you Mr. I.G. for shining a little more light on the TIF scam. Gives us one more reason — as if any more were needed — to blow this program up once and for all.
Comments (7)
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I just read about the $7 milli in TIF funds going to the developer of the grocery store / high rise hotel in West Loop/Greektown on Blair Kamin's blog, and I'm glad to see you caught wind of it. That's a head scratcher...I can't even begin to see the justification for subsidizing that project with tax dollars.
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Thanks, Ben Joravsky, for providing the clearest explanation yet on the TIF abuse as it relates to ASM. Now let's wait for Daley's PR shills to catch up and start savaging you on this board, as they did Greg Hinz.
You do know that even if we got rid of TIF that those property taxes still wouldn't go to the schools right? That the schools have a maximum in the % of property taxes that they can levy (a max which they just raised over the summer to general outrage from lots of people who viewed it as the mayor backtracking on his promise not to raise taxes). Moreover, why would someone like myself (who has no children) want my additional taxes to go towards schools. I would much prefer that the money went to encouraging development in my neighborhood which increases property values for all. Also FYI, 60% of TIF funds are issued to intergovernmental agencies to build schools and hospitals and pave roads...if CPS, or even a private school, wants to apply for the money, they have the same opportunity as any private developer.
The kickbacks to ASM are outrageous, agreed, even though they are doing amazing work that not even well-funded schools would necessarily be capable of providing.
In general, the TIF concept is actually a great one and is widely used nation-wide. If we were more open about the process, then a lot of problems would be allayed.
Also, remember that TIF meetings are open to public comment, why don't you attend and voice your outrage right to the decision makers. Get all your readers to go with and maybe you would get somewhere.
Ben, you and the other reporters are missing one of the hidden gems in this report--the suggestion that public benefits clauses may be illegal. If the city gives a developer $1M , but requires the developer to donate $50,000 to charity, isn't the city really giving the developer $950,000 with the other $50,000 going to charity, something the city itself could not do under the TIF laws?
