Mayor Announces TIF Taskforce

citizen |

Melinda Kelly, executive director of the Chatham Business Association and Alderman Carrie Austin (34th) were recently named to Mayor Emanuel's TIF Taskforce team.
Melinda Kelly, executive director of the Chatham Business Association and Alderman Carrie Austin (34th) were recently named to Mayor Emanuel's TIF Taskforce team.

photo

STANDARD

Alderman Carrie Austin (34th)

by Thelma Sardin

Mayor Rahm Emanuel recently declared the creation of a task force on Tax Increment Financing Reform (TIF) to bring transparency, accountability and efficiency to the TIF system.

According to the City of Chicagos website, TIF is an effective investment tool for the city to create jobs and promote economic development, as well as make neighborhood infrastructure improvements to benefit people and businesses throughout every neighborhood in Chicago.

TIFs have created jobs, strengthened Chicagos school system; revitalized neighborhoods, boosted the local economy and improved the quality of life for Chicago residents, the Citys website states.

Taskforce members include a host of Chicago civic leaders and public officials including Alderman Carrie Austin (34th) and the Chatham Business Associations Executive Director, Melinda Kelly.

This committee has a simple task: to create accountability systems that will ensure our TIF investments go to projects that have real return for taxpayers new jobs and new economic development, said Mayor Emanuel.

According to a press release, the Mayor also announced that TIF data will be easily accessible to Chicagoans online at Cityofchicago.org/TIF. Data on TIF budgets that has formerly been in PDFs has been put into machine-readable format and new data has been added so that every citizen can sift through it.

I am calling on all Chicagoans to engage in this process, said the Mayor. Take a look at the website and submit your ideas for improving TIF data availability, or tell us how you think the TIF investment process could be improved.

Kelly recently discussed the taskforces role.

I'm honored to be a part of the TIF Reform Task Force consisting of economic development professionals, financial experts and community leaders, who, over a 90 day period, will evaluate every aspect of the Citys TIF program and develop recommendations for reform, she said.

She also mentioned why it is important for citizens to engage in the TIF investment process.

As you may recall at the inauguration, Mayor Rahm Emanuel extended a personal invitation to each every Chicagoan to sit at the table and engage in this process. So I would encourage your readers to join us, and take a look at the website. Submit your ideas for improving TIF data availability, or tell us how you think the TIF investment process could be improved.

CBAs Executive Director shared how she became involved with the taskforce.

I crossed paths with the Mayor early on in the campaign. He is very interested in small business owners and learning more about their challenges and successes in the city. Needless to say I am happy to be a part of the TIF Reform Task Force and will continue to help to work with the Mayor and the City of Chicago.

Kelly discussed how the taskforce will benefit Chicago. She said the task force will help develop and recommend guiding principles for future TIF investments. Additionally, the taskforce will develop return on investment (ROI) performance criteria so that City staff can evaluate each TIF against these performance criteria.

Another goal of the task force is to recommend improvements to City reporting on TIF information, specifically focused on the availability and user-friendly nature of the data. The panel will also develop criteria for projecting, evaluating and addressing the fiscal impacts on the Citys budget of both TIF creation and elimination, she said.

The release stated the task force will complete its work over a three-month period. Its recommendations will then be incorporated into the 2012 budget.

Latest Stories

Latest Podcast

STARR Community Services International, Inc.