Further excerpts. I find it fascinating reading. I don't know how anyone would support a TIF after reading about this mess. This is the rest of the article.
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Village President David Pope, who helped develop the funding proposal as part of the Council of Governments, or COG, which is composed of leaders of schools, parks and the township, said redevelopment would not be compromised by the school funding plan because the village can float bonds to fund Madison TIF expenses, and would likely do so regardless of the school plan.
The village would recoup its costs in the Madison TIF by essentially extending its life two or three years.
Although the TIF is not set to expire until 2018, an agreement with Dist. 97 would effectively end the TIF in 2010. That agreement-a compromise when the TIF was created in 1995-gives the school district 25 percent of the taxes each year it would have gotten if the TIF were not created. After 2010, that amount increases to 100 percent.
The agreement is with Dist. 97 only, but state law requires that money released from a TIF to one government body be matched with appropriate funds for all government bodies. So all taxing bodies now get one-fourth of their share and would get 100 percent in 2010.
Extending the practical life of the Madison TIF accomplishes two things, Pope said. In addition to returning money to the TIF, the extension requires all taxing bodies to share the burden of funding Dist. 97. That was important to government leaders, Pope said, so that the village wasn't funding schools by itself.
Another benefit to the property exchange is that the deal is strictly between the village and Dist. 97. Money disbursed from the TIF is split among all taxing bodies, meaning 13 percent of the money goes to governments outside Oak Park, such as Cook County and the Mosquito Abatement District.
Trustees pointed out that the village has its own financial woes. The cash value of its fund balance had shrunk to 2 percent as of its latest audit, Village Manager Tom Barwin said. He noted that the fund balance also includes an I.O.U. from the village's parking fund for more than $6 million, bringing the fund balance to 18.1 percent. The village's goal is to have 20 percent of its operating budget as reserves.
Money is lost every year operating the village's public parking garages, but Monday the board voted to raise parking revenues over five years until the parking fund breaks even.
Trustees Robert Milstein and Greg Marsey voted against the school funding proposal. Marsey delivered a 25-minute diatribe against the proposal in which he reiterated his support for another proposal suggested by Township Assessor Ali ElSaffar in November.
"It made sense to me then, it makes sense to me now," Marsey said. "It's easy. It's simple. It's fair."
ElSaffar's plan called for diverting increases in TIF income after the 2005 tax reassessment from all three of the village's TIF districts to Dist. 97. The weakness of the plan is that the money would be sent to all the taxing bodies, and each would need to forward the money to Dist. 97.
The village's special TIF attorney said school and park districts don't have legal authority to write checks to one another for TIF funding disbursements.
Marsey and Milstein both questioned the process used to develop the plan.
"The notion that [COG meetings] not be public ... doesn't make a whole lot of sense," Marsey said. "These decisions should take place publicly."
Posted Thursday Mar 15, 2007 16:04
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