In November 2004 the city sued to seize a northwest-side bike shop, arguing that it stood in the way of a condo development that would help rejuvenate Jefferson Park. Last month it dropped the suit, saying that there was no need to claim the property after all–the condos could be built around the store. But a look at the documents involved suggests that the city had an even more compelling reason to quit the case: hearings were beginning to reveal politically sensitive material. And once again, dear reader, I’m here to tell you about the abuse of a tax increment financing district. This one’s a doozy.
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True, there were some commercial vacancies along Lawrence and Milwaukee. But no one could seriously argue that Jefferson Park was blighted: over the past several years condo developers have been lining up to build there, and houses in the neighborhood are now fetching as much as $600,000. Still, no one needed to: a loophole in the law allows TIFs to be created in areas where “the continued lack of growth and development will exacerbate conditions of obsolescence, causing further disinvestment and, eventually, blight.” Declaring Jefferson Park at risk for possible blight in the future, the city set up a TIF that would sock away some $48 million in property taxes over the next 23 years.
Zordani didn’t attend the January meeting. But two other property owners–Walter Ogloza and Tony Kurzac–showed up to contest the sales. Kurzac, a recent Polish immigrant who owned a tire store at 5213 W. Lawrence, told the commissioners, “I want to stay in the place where I stay.” Ogloza, who owned buildings at 5201 W. Lawrence and 4759 N. Laramie, said he not only wanted to keep his property, he wanted to improve it. In fact, he said, he’d already approached Loverde with some site plans for adevelopment he wanted to build on Lawrence.
Zordani and Cainkar peppered Kozonis with requests for documents and records. When he failed to respond Cainkar asked the judge to hold him in contempt of court. In another filing they insisted on their right to ask Kozonis to testify “as to when he first initiated discussion with the city to develop the property.” They announced their intention of asking about his “relationship with” Levar and his “employment of Tom Loverde” and said they’d seek Loverde’s testimony “as both an employee of the city” and of Kozonis.
Nor has the Jefferson Park TIF served to boost the tax base. In 1999 Kozonis paid about $46,000 in property taxes for the four properties he owned on the 5200 block. Last year he paid $19,660.
