A few weeks ago a City Hall source gave me a CD filled with the 2005 annual reports for the 143 tax increment financing districts in Chicago, and over the last few days it’s been a source of delight for me and other TIF geeks awed by the sheer scope of this scheme. I mean, on one level you have to hand it to city officials: they’re siphoning some $400 million a year in property taxes away from the schools, parks, libraries, etc, into off-budget slush funds, insisting all along that they’re not raising our taxes.
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For example, consider the Pilsen Industrial TIF. Passed in 1998, the Pilsen TIF was intended to preserve the industrial job base in the factories and warehouses in the large manufacturing area near the Stevenson Expressway and Western Avenue. So far the TIF’s record on protecting industry has been mixed. It got off to a good start, allocating about $3.5 million to help American Linen build a new operation, but it’s gone downhill ever since. Yes, the city spent another $9.5 million in TIF funds to help build the Chicago International Produce Market at 2404 S. Wolcott. But the produce market was relocated from the old South Water Market on Morgan, which is being converted into Chicago University Commons, an upscale complex of loft condominiums, so it was one step forward and another one back in terms of protecting industries from residential encroachment.
The annual statement doesn’t weigh in on this debate. Instead it dedicates page after page to mind-numbing legalese, a few confusing fiduciary charts, and a hard-to-read map of the district. Finally, on page 19 of the 39-page report, you get to the good stuff: a list of vendors.
Claypool Caves
But Claypool didn’t fall in line, and you know what happened next: after John Stroger was incapacitated by a stroke, the party bosses selected Todd Stroger to replace his father on the ballot. The longer Claypool refused to endorse Todd Stroger, the more attention he drew to the bosses’ backroom machinations, the more credibility he bestowed on Peraica’s campaign, and worst of all, the more he embarrassed Daley.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photos/Jon Randolph, Mike Browarski.
