For years, I’ve been really trying to bring the TIF program to life in an often-futile attempt to make this abstract concept tangible and real.
Pappas had her office’s computers sift through last year’s tax data to determine which TIF districts in Cook County got how much in property tax dollars.
But it’s become a reverse Robin Hood program, thanks to a flaw in the law that makes almost any area, no matter how rich, TIF eligible. So the program intended to help the poor largely helps the rich.
No, it’s that freaking flaw in the program. The one that makes parts of the Loop and South Loop (in Deer’s district) as eligible for TIF money as portions of Roseland and South Chicago (in Moore’s district).
Sorry, I may have lost my mind as I wrote that last sentence. Repeating this basic point over and over in column after column is a little like banging your head against a wall. After a while, you start to lose your mind.
Gainer’s area includes North Center and Lakeview on the north side. Sims’s includes portions of Roseland and Morgan Park on the south side.
