WHAT IS A TIF?
[Thanks to the TIF Illumination Project]
TIF stands for Tax Increment Finance. It's a BIG deal - In 2011 a total of $729 million in property taxes were extracted by TIFs across all of Cook County. $454 million was taken in city property taxes and $275 million in suburban property taxes.
When a TIF district – say, this one, is created then the value of
The value of ALL the properties inside the district is assessed or calculated and the total amount of property tax generated by all those properties is noted – let’s call that number the BASE AMOUNT OF PROPERTY TAX REVENUES. The life span of a TIF district is 23 years. For the next 23 years all property revenue ABOVE this BASE AMOUNT is captured by the TIF district. This amount – the amount over the BASE is called the INCREMENTAL REVENUE. The process looks something like this:
The important thing to note is that the city and county are fueled by property taxes. Just about every thing we do or use in the city – police, fire protection, the public schools, public transit, the public libraries, our parks and the basic operations of the city and county – these are all powered by our property taxes. If you rent, then a portion of your rent will eventually make it into that pool, as the owner of the property you rent must pay property taxes. In Chicago some twelve agencies depend on property taxes to operate:
Here is another look at who relies on our property taxes for their operation: So if TIF districts take property taxes “off the top” – how does this affect all those agencies that rely on property taxes for their operation? HOW MANY TIFs ARE THERE? In 2011 there were 443 TIF districts in Cook County - 163 in the city of Chicago and 280 in the suburbs. They diverted ed a total of $729 million in county property taxes. $454 million was taken in city property taxes and $275 million in suburban property taxes. Almost 30% of Chicago is in a TIF District! [caption id="attachment_117" align="aligncenter" width="525"] Are YOUR property taxes being diverted?[/caption] WHO GETS ALL THIS PROPERTY TAX MONEY? Here are some of the companies that have received property tax subsidies or other benefits from the TIF program in Chicago: And there is:- Hyatt Hotel Hyde Park -$5,200,000 [Download the development plan - Harper_Court-Hyatt_CDC]
- K-Mart -$3,700,000
- Quaker Oats -$13,000,000
- Union Station Health Club -$3,200,000
- Block 37 developers -$12,000,000
- Chicago Symphony -$2,500,000
- Sears -$13,700,000
- United Airlines -$32,000,000
- Rush Medical Center -$75,000,000
- Loyola University -$20,400,000
- Sara Lee -$5,000,000
- Wrigley -$15,000,000
- Home Depot -$8,000,000
- Keebler – $2,000,000
- Jewel/Osco – $9,600,000
- Target -$9,900,000
- UPS – $11,300,000
- Wilson Yard developer -$54,200,000
- Grossinger Auto – $8,500,000
Here's a humorous take on TIFs that was created by then journalism student Adam Verwymeren for the Medill News Service.