Ald. Pawar & Paul Douglas Alliance Launch TIF Accountability Measure

CHICAGO - April 10, 2013 - PRLog -- Contact: Alderman Ameya Pawar       Phone: 312-804-5316    

Today, Wednesday, April 10, Alderman Ameya Pawar and members of the Paul Douglas Alliance spelled out the details of their new TIF Accountability Ordinance, which will create an online and searchable database listing project locations, amount of TIF subsidy relative to development budget, jobs promised versus jobs created, property tax revenues promised versus revenues generated, and other performance data.

Tax-Increment Financing is a frequently-used tool intended to create jobs, jump-start economic development, and improve Chicago’s economy. In recent years, TIF expenditures for public and private projects have undergone greater scrutiny and questions have been raised about whether TIFs live up to their promise.  Though TIF balances and expenditures have become more transparent, no online database currently exists which sets forth project performance data.  In order to weigh the costs and benefits of each private development, and hold developers accountable, information related to what was promised by the private entity versus what was delivered must be made available to the public.

The Paul Douglas Alliance is:  

Ald. Proco Joe Moreno, 1st Ward

Ald. Pat Dowell, 3rd Ward

Ald. Will Burns, 4th Ward

Ald. Rey Colón, 35th Ward

Ald. Brendan Reilly, 42nd Ward

Ald. Michele Smith, 43rd Ward

Ald. James Cappleman, 46th Ward

Ald. Ameya Pawar, 47th Ward

Ald. Harry Osterman, 48th Ward

Ald. Joe Moore, 49th Ward

TIF ACCOUNTABILITY O R D I N A N C E

WHEREAS, The City of Chicago has created Tax Increment Financing (T.I.F.) districts in various communities to finance economic development projects with the intent to improve the local economy, create jobs, and spur property value growth across Chicago; and

WHEREAS, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has made government transparency a priority of his administration and as a result, T.I.F. eligibility studies, redevelopment plans, maps, and other documents related to T.I.F. districts are available on the City of Chicago’s website and data portal; and

WHEREAS, Mayor Emanuel’s T.I.F. Reform report outlines specific steps to increase transparency by making data and project performance data available; and

WHEREAS, the public benefit of T.I.F dollars for a public infrastructure project is much easier to assess than T.I.F expenditures for private entities; and

WHEREAS, while the Chicago Data Portal lists expenditures by T.I.F. district, the City must do more to make project performance data related to private projects available in order to weigh the T.I.F. outlay against the public benefit; and

WHEREAS, information about the total dollar amount of the T.I.F. subsidy, jobs promised, jobs delivered, and other performance metrics are currently available online in various documents but this information should be aggregated into a single centralized and searchable database on the City of Chicago Data Portal; and now, therefore,

BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF CHICAGO:

Section 1. Chapter 2-45-155 of the Chicago Municipal Code be amended by adding the new underlined language below:

2-45-155 Tax increment financing (T.I.F.) Sunshine ordinance.

The following T.I.F.-related documents for each active T.I.F. district shall be made publicly available on the City of Chicago, Department of Housing and Economic Development website:

The ordinances establishing each T.I.F. district, including all attachments, and any amendments thereto;
The ordinances authorizing each T.I.F. redevelopment agreement, including any attachments, any amendments thereto and accompanying Economic Disclosure Statements;

Written staff reports presented to the Community Development Commission related to T.I.F.- funded projects;

T.I.F. overviews prepared by the Department of Housing and Economic Development and annual reports prepared pursuant to 65 ILCS 5/11-74.4-5(d);
City-issued Certificates of Completion and any required annual employment certifications prepared pursuant to T.I.F. redevelopment agreements.
All such ordinances as described in (1) and (2) above shall be made available on the City of Chicago, Department of Housing and Economic Development website within seven business days of their passage and publication in the Journal of the Proceedings of the City Council of the City of Chicago. All such documents as described in (3), (4) and (5) above shall be made available on the City of Chicago, Department of Housing and Economic Development website within fourteen business days of their completion in final form. The Department of Housing and Economic Development shall create and maintain an online and searchable database for public consumption on the City of Chicago Data Portal for every private project funded by any active T.I.F. district starting with fiscal year 2004 in the City of Chicago within one year of project completion. The database shall be made available by July 1, 2014. The database shall include the following information:

Project location by address and ward
Total budget of project
Total T.I.F. subsidy
Total T.I.F. subsidy as a percentage of project budget
Project start date
Project completion date
Total jobs agreed to in redevelopment agreement
Total jobs created
Public capital improvements completed as part of project
MBE/WBE and job/community hiring commitments met - if applicable
Total sales tax creation - if applicable
Pre-development property tax generated
Post development property tax generated

The T.I.F. documents described above for T.I.F. districts established from and after July 30,2004 will similarly be made available by July 30, 2009.

________________________ Ald. Ameya Pawar

________________________ Ald. James Cappleman

________________________ Ald. Will Burns

________________________ Ald. Joe Moore

________________________ Ald. Pat Dowell

________________________ Ald. Michele Smith

________________________ Ald. Joe Moreno

________________________ Ald. Brendan Reilly

________________________ Ald. Harry Osterman

________________________ Ald. Rey Colon