I want to point out a conversation I had with my wife today. She read the following paragraph from this article and said this was a significant point against the TIF. I assumed it was an opinion piece like a Letter to the Editor. When I read it, however, I discovered that it was a descriptive piece of the TIF, and not opinion.
I responded to me wife, 'that is just what a TIF is'. She said that is not how the Village described it in their mailing.
Establishing a TIF district allows a municipality to fund major redevelopment projects by using increases in tax revenue generated by the redevelopment. The increases in tax revenue are collected by only the village for the life of the TIF district, which is typically 23 years. This means other taxing bodies, including local school districts and the county, don't benefit from the increases until it expires.
http://www.chicagosuburbannews.com/riverside/homepage/x1094479027
Riverside voters stiff TIF district proposal
By Dan Petrella
Riverside Suburban Life
Thu Apr 19, 2007, 05:04 PM CDT
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Riverside, IL -
More Riverside residents voted to oppose the creation of a tax increment financing district in a referendum Tuesday than voted for any of the elected officials serving in the village government.
With all precincts reporting, 1,760 voters opposed the financial strategy, while 444 voted in favor, according to unofficial results reported by the Cook County clerk's office.
Trustee Cindy Gustafson received 1,274 votes in the 2003 election, the most of any official serving on the board prior to Tuesday's election.
In this year's uncontested race for three open trustee seats, John Scully was re-elected with 1,644 votes. Jean Sussman was elected to her first term with 1,659 votes and Ben Sells was elected for the first time with 1,607 votes.
“It's very clear what the residents of Riverside want,— said Mark Shevitz, a resident who has been critical of the TIF proposal since it was first presented to the public last fall.
“The board has a very clear choice before them: They can side with the residents or they can side with the developers.—
Shevitz attended a “No TIF— party on election night with about 20 other “jubilant— residents on the 100 block of Scottswood Road.
The board has said the plan might be necessary to fund street and sewer repairs and a number of other projects to rejuvenate the downtown, where property values lag behind the rest of the village. But opponents have argued it could hurt schools and would serve as a subsidy for developers.
Establishing a TIF district allows a municipality to fund major redevelopment projects by using increases in tax revenue generated by the redevelopment. The increases in tax revenue are collected by only the village for the life of the TIF district, which is typically 23 years. This means other taxing bodies, including local school districts and the county, don't benefit from the increases until it expires.
Before a TIF district can be approved by the village, a joint review board made up of representatives from all the taxing bodies that would be affected must be convened, and a public hearing must be held. Riverside has not yet reached this point in the process because an official vote on the proposal was delayed to gather more input from residents.
Village President Harold Wiaduck said the referendum vote is not binding and was placed on the ballot by opponents of the TIF before the village held a series of eight community workshops to gather input from residents on the proposal.
“Certainly (the outcome of the vote) will be looked at, but whether it will be the linchpin of the decision, I don't know if that will be the case,— Wiaduck said.
He said the village is reaching a point where its budget reserves are running low and operating costs are increasing faster than tax revenue, and the TIF district is one possible solution to address the problem.
“Unfortunately the TIF has been cast by opponents in terms of it only helping developers,— Wiaduck said.
The board will continue discussion of the proposal at its meeting Monday, and could vote to adopt the redevelopment plan as soon as Monday, May 7. Once the plan is adopted, a joint review board meeting and a public hearing must be held before the TIF district can be created.