Correcting Crain S On Tifs

• Brian Jackson/Sun-Times Media
• Listen, Crains, Mayor Rahm doesn’t need any help getting away with TIF murder.

I was lounging on the couch, watching my beloved Bulls on a peaceful Sunday afternoon, a bother to nobody, when Greg Hinz fired off the latest salvo in the great debate about TIFs.

Greg Hinz is, among other things, an old pal who covers politics for Crain’s Chicago Business.

OK, where do I start with my rebuttal? How about correcting one of the mistakes that Greg made . . .

And that’s just not true.

To finish up with our example, state law specifically allows the schools to take in all the extra money paid by the owner of this newly developed mall once the TIF district is dissolved.

In that deal, the mayor’s planning to spend at least $55 million in TIF dollars to buy tax-producing land in the South Loop that, once we own it, won’t pay any property tax dollars. ‘Cause government owned land is tax exempt.