For years 47th Ward alderman Eugene Schulter has been among the herd of aldermen approving Mayor Daley’s proposed tax increment financing districts, but recently he broke ranks. No, Schulter didn’t come out against the LaSalle Central TIF, the mayor’s latest boondoggle–he says he’s still studying that proposal. But he did do something few other aldermen have braved. Addressing top Daley aides at an October 3 meeting of the City Council’s finance committee, Schulter blistered the administration for breaking its promises about how TIF funds are to be spent. “They said they were going to spend this money in my ward,” Schulter says. “And now they’re not. I have to stand up for the people of my ward.”
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There are plenty of reasons to oppose TIFs. They’re poorly regulated and, no matter what City Hall tries to tell us, they’re driving up taxes as a result of the millions they divert. But aldermen tell me they’re forced to go along with TIFs because they’re the only game in town when it comes to funding neighborhood development projects. It’s a go-along-to-get-along system: if you want money for your own ward, you have to vote for TIFs in all the other wards. As a result the council keeps creating them–we’re now at 140-plus TIF districts–and the funds are sucking up about $400 million a year in property taxes.
In exchange for routinely endorsing TIFs, Schulter and other aldermen expect a major say in how TIF funds their wards produce get spent. Schulter says Daley and former planning commissioner Christopher Hill persuaded him to create two adjoining TIFs, the Western Avenue South and the Western Avenue North, by dangling before him the promise of new schools, parks, and senior citizen housing within his ward.
“There was an extensive community process when we created these TIFs,” he says. “There were meetings. They made promises. I have the documents saying the money will be spent in the community. All of a sudden they’re just giving this money away.”
Schulter’s concerns are much more immediate. Lane Tech needs a new football stadium, Lakeview High School needs new elevators, Coonley Elementary School needs a new lunchroom, Clark Park needs new soccer fields and baseball diamonds–the list goes on and on. But now he’s learning that when it comes to TIFs only Daley gets to control the piggy bank.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/A. Jackson.
