Chicago’s never been known for independent politics. Even in the late 60s and early 70s, at the height of the local independent political movement, there were only five or six aldermen willing to take a stand against Mayor Richard J. Daley.
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As readers of this column are well aware, TIFs are districts created by the City Council in which all property taxes that go to the schools, parks, and other taxing bodies–including the county–are capped for 23 years. All the rest of the revenue created by rising assessments and new development gets diverted to the TIFs, which amount to slush funds controlled by Daley, his planning department, and the local alderman. (My articles on TIFs are posted in a free archive at chicagoreader.com.)
TIFs are supposed to be reserved for blighted communities starving for investment. Instead they cover a third of the city, including affluent neighborhoods like Lakeview, the Loop, and Lincoln Park. They’re supposed to be scrutinized and monitored by local and state overseers. Instead they’re off the books, unlisted in any budget, and not even itemized on property tax bills. There are now more than 140 TIFs, up 100 or so over the last decade.
“This is the first time I’ve really criticized the city,” Quigley says. “In the past I was reluctant to do so–I’m not an alderman. But TIFs are different. The city is using the county to raise taxes for TIFs. It’s a tax issue as much as anything else. We’re trying to cut property taxes, and, frankly, we can’t do that if TIFs are adding all the money to the county’s tax bills.”
