Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
It was actually one of the more interesting twists on use of the program. TIFs (or tax increment financing districts) are intended to subsidize development in blighted communities that would otherwise find it difficult to attract investment. In this case, however, 47th Ward alderman Gene Schulter was seeking public funds to keep private development out — at least a certain kind of private development.
Schulter contended that the commercial strip, with its booming residential base, was starting to attract the interest of big-box chains. By beating the big boxes to the punch, he said, his plan would actually protect small businesses and help keep the community free of too much traffic and congestion. Sure, in this case protecting small businesses meant threatening them with government seizure of their property. But the declaration of eminent domain alone would help keep the Best Buys at bay: there’s no market for land the city can snatch at will.
I suspect the December 5 demonstration had something to do with the turnaround. Residents left Schulter’s office that night vowing to turn up at City Hall in even greater numbers if the matter came to a vote. Of course, the last thing Mayor Daley or his planning department needs is a storm of protest. If a big crowd showed up to scream and yell over a TIF project, the mainstream press might have to start asking questions about the slush fund that sucked up some $500 million in property taxes last year. The fewer people who know about TIFs, the better.
