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TIF News |
Information about the 53rd Street Redevelopment (Commercial Tax Increment Financing District)
TIF homepageA service of the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference, its Development, Preservation and Zoning Committee, and the HPKCC website, www.hydepark.org. Support our work: Join the Conference!
Return links: home. Site contents navigator. Development Hot Specific Topics. Development Hot overview. Hot Topics and Community Issues home.
Development homepage.Breaking: Year and Month of Decision due to Harper Court/53rd Lake Park fund request. As story unfolds, visit Harper Court home, which has more and important sub-explanations and community positions, and TIF Advisory Council Meetings page.
Presentation and funding ask (separate page)
Notice of availability of 2009 TIF Annual Reports (below)To page index.
Next meeting agenda
Hearing July 7 on proposed ord. to use 20% of TIF funds for affordable housing.
Recent doings (Canter, Cleanslate, SBIF...).
2006 Annual Report, 2007 Annual Report
More: Advisory Council Meeting Records. Early AC Meetings. July 10 06 Mtg. Report.
"TIFormation" brochures (official annual publication).
53rd Street News. Development Navigator. Business Climate. Tracking Community Trends. Zoning Reform. Community News. An article saying "density" can be a solution to neighborhood and regional ills. Parking Woes and Hopes. Parking (Transportation Enhancement) Recommendations. Lake Park/viaducts/embankment Project. The Hanging Basket program- 1), 2), 3). The CleanSlate program, page. Maps of the TIF District. Adv. Co. bylaws changes.
Theater decision and undoing?. Harper Court homepage. Antheus Capital. Village Center. Mobil/McDonald & 53rd Cornell. Checkerboard Lounge and Kleiner restaurant.
Next meeting details. To past meeting records. Bylaws.53rd Vision workshops, info. It's website: vision53.org. See also 53rd St. page. See pics from the Nov. 15 Block exercise: picasaweb.google.com/crcrumsey/53rdStreetVisionsBLOCKS or http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/DK_JZJ9p9XK0utKiVEvRug
November 15 2008 Block exercise report.A new TIF and SSA in the Cottage Grove strip 35th to 50th.
Be advised that the 2008 and 2009 Annual Reports issued by the city for all TIFs is now available at City Hall room 1006 M-F 9:30 am-4pm. You can sign up to receive notice of same mailed annually as a "TIF Interested Person (or organization.)" Each year's is posted from the start of August.
>>>>>>>You can see the TIF's 2010 budget online in the city website- community planning dept. See some former in Annual 03, Annual Reports, and TIFormation.NOTICE TO INTERESTED PARTIES REGARDING THE AVAILABILITY OF THE 2009 TIF ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO
" NOTICE is hereby given, pursuant to Section 5/11-74,4-5(d)(9) of the Illinois Tax Increment Allocation Redevelopment Act, as amended (65 ILCS 5/11-74.4-1 et seq.) (the "Act"), that discs of the 2009 TIF Annual Reports of the City of Chicago will be available Monday through Friday between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. beginning Wednesday, July 7, 2010 at City Hall, 121 North LaSalle Street, chicagho, Ilinois in the Departmment of Community Development ("DCD"), Room 1006. Pdfs for individual districts will also be available. Annual reports are online at cityofchicago.org beginning Thursday July 1, 2001. "
[TIFs in the list in our area: 43rd Street/Cottage Grove Redevelopment Project Area
53rd Street Redevelopment Project Area]Christine Raguso, Acting Commissiner, Department of Community Development, City of Chicago
See Council info/ update brochures 2005 - 2007: TIFormation ( Copies are at SECC offices). See major parking recommendations for the business district, introduced July 10 2006. Was on pdf from SECC.(new web address). Chamber of Commerce new website: http://www.hydeparkchamberchicago.org.
Flower Power hanging baskets donation time again. Contact SECC at 773 324-6926. Read about it.
July 7, 10 am City Hall 2nd fl Council chambers, there was a hearing on requiring 20% of TIF funds to be spent on affordable housing annually. Here are some details and one set of suggested alterations. Local groups such as Coalition for Equitable Community Development are examining the proposal. It was returned to committee.
The July 6 Sun-Times carries an editorial on the use of 20% of TIF funds for affordable housing. The editorial strongly endorses and gives reasons to recommend, but suggests a number of changes.
Note that the proposed ordinance is for 20% of total TIF money, NOT 20% in every TIF. Not said here is whether this is retroactive to all money in TIFs when it goes into effect but it appears the transfers and requirement would be annual. Not said here is whether such units would have to be inside a TIF district. It would not be just for building new housing, but could also be for preserving or rehabbing existing housing for affordable or converting foreclosed properties into affordable housing.
Recommended changes by Sun-Times:
Reporting requirements said to be weak, esp. that the developers alone would verify family eligibility.
For rental half of apartments in each development would be for families earning 50 percent or less of area median (+$38,000 for family of 54) with 40% for families earning under 23% Sun-Times fears this would derail development or lead to projects that don't enhance property values (which is a main source of increment in the first place). ST would change the percentages to 30% and a bit under 40%.
Homeownership rules: Proposed is that 50 percent of for-sale units be for families making under $60,000. But this is the group that most heavily took the now mortgages in the bubble and then lost them. It might also raise costs to the point that financing could not be obtained. S-T does not suggest an alternative.
The proposal lacks a means to prevent the city form concentrating affordable developments in certain (challenged?) neighborhoods. At least some affordable development should go into TIFs in neighborhoods that are not "challenged" (read Hyde Park 53rd and Cottage Grove TIFs?)
Gary Ossewaarde
Small Business Improvement Fund grants out of TIF monies- several businesses have used these. them (Chant, Sit Down, Three Pillars, and Kimbark Laundry) See our SBIF page. Note that this is a 50-50 match with strict requirements, to be used only in the TIF area. Projects require aldermanic support, and recommendation of the TIF Neighborhood and Business Environment Committee (criteria to be developed, lottery used if competing proposals). TIF purpose is to increase property values for the increment for TIF purposes.The Business and Neighborhood Environment Committee continues to seek ways to bring 53rd along. Note, there have been periodic updates on the program and glowing testimonials from businesses that took advantage of it.
Now awarded RFP and guidelines for the Heart of Hyde Park/ 53rd & Harper (Theater) are were available on the SECC website--inquire of Irene Sherr--www.hydeparkchicago.org and the Guidelines part is in our Theater RFP page--with link to get full from developer-hard or CD-ROM copies. (We do have a pdf copy downloaded in the computer at our office- 39 pages plus graphics.)To page index. Announcements.
To About Cleanslate cleaning program and recommendation
To Parking Committee recommendations and parking district recommendation
To TIFormation page for January 2008 annual TIF report to communityQuad Communities SSA #47 seeks residents of the SSA to serve on its Advisory Commission. The SSA runs from 39th to E. Hyde Park Blvd. along Cottage Grove Avenue and from the lake to 4 streets west of Cottage Grove along 47th Street. Call Lynn M. Kardasz at 773 268-7232 at 4659 S. Cottage Grove. Application due by November 14, 2008.
Next TIF Advisory Council meeting: (Following meetings: Nov. 8, Jan. 10, Mar. 14, May 9, July 11, Sept. 12.) Questions? 773 324-6926.
TIF Council generally meets the second Monday of September (1st meeting of year), November, January, March, May, and July.
The Planning and Development Committee vets developer proposals and strategic initiatives. Chairs Chuck Thurow and Mich Cohen. chuck.thurow@gmail.com. Next meeting Sept. 20.
September 13, Monday, 7 pm. Next TIF REGULAR meeting is scheduled for Monday, September 13, 2010. Kenwood Academy Little Theater (flagpole entry then walk all the way south), 5015 S. Blackstone.
The agenda includes election of Council Officers, guests on community events and and projects, particularly in the arts; Sept. 20 Harper design and special meeting in October. The guest speakers are
Nadia Quarles of UC on the Ebony Education Forum;
Irene Sherr of HyPa on Art Here, Art Now and Hyde Park Jazz Festival;
Jane Comiskey of HPKCC on the Used Book Sale;
Wendy Walker Williams of SECC on OctoberFest;
Angela K. Sherrill on 57thSt. Children's Book Fair;
John Schmitz, Exec. Prod. of Dance Chicago 2010- first Hyde Park EventSeptember 20, Monday, 6:30 pm. The Planning and Development Committee of the 53rd St. TIF meets to hear Vermilion present and accept input on design for Harper Court that it will present to the Chicago Plan Commission this fall. Hyde Park Art Center, 5020 S. Cornell.
Visit Advisory Council Meetings.
January 12 2009 highlights: Susan Campbell announced that leases for remaining tenants have been extended to June. (At least one tenant says ability to relocate in that time if at all will be difficult.) The RFP call is in progress, initial extended to January 26. Alderman Preckwinkle said that the semifinal selectees will present their vision for Harper Court Area, not just the selected finalist.Site on planning from TIF and SECC: http://www.vision53.org. Including reports on December 8 and May 3 53rd Street Vision Workshops. This site also has Guidelines for Harper Court RFQ/RFP in public comment period until June 12 (comments to ccs@ccstudioinc.com).The University has a blogsite for 53rd and Harper Court, but there is little in it: http://fiftythird.uchicago.edu
Planning and Development met June 14, 2010 on funding engineering study and drawings on reopening Harper Avenue. Hyde Park Art Center, 5020 S. Cornell. Approved by the full council July 12.
That meeting saw preentation and ask for $23.4 million for Harper. Approved July 26. Details see Harper homepage and TIF Adv. Council Meetings.
Next Accessibility (was Parking) Committee meeting will be announced. See Parking District page. Jo Ilene Reizner, Chair.
The Rehab and Repair (was Neighborhood Business and Environment Committee) Committee. Co chairs: Andre Brumfield and Jane Comiskey.
Meeting reports (last 3 years) in Advisory Council Meetings and Earlier linked there. Latest committee reports: Parking in Parking Opportunities and Parking Recommendations, Planning and Development and Streetscape in Advisory Council Meetings.
To receive e-mail notice of TIF meetings and agendas, go to www.hydeparkchicago.org or call SECC 733 324-6926 or 4th Ward Office, 773 536-8103.
The most recent and every Annual Report for the 53rd St. TIF (and the other 133 TIFs) is available 9 am-4 pm M-F at City Hall room 1003, Dept of Planning and Dev., 121 N. LaSalle. The current, and likely back, report is available and may be placed on their website, www.cityofchicago.org/dpd.
See on a sister TIF and council for Cottage Grove/Vincennes 37th -51st in the Development page.
In
the till of the 53rd TIF at start of 2009: $2,498,522, should get another $900,000
spring 20100, and after expenditures. projected for $3,126,560 at the end of
2011. But this is without the first $2 million expected toward Harper Court
redevelopment. (Most tifs are losing due to property value declines and spending).
No new appropriations are on the horizon for the 53rd TIF but the city says
the TIF will fund infrastructure work for Harper Court. (Original purpose was
for parking, Canter, and other infrastructure needs in schools, parks and street
in the district.)
Back Again- Flower Power. SECC and Chamber of Commerce have contracted with Panoramic Landscaping to install 2 seasonal planting and water and maintain all the baskets on 53rd and 55th. Cost is $26,000. The University pays half and matches additional dollars. Send checks to Flower Power at SECC, 152 E. 53rd street, 60615. 773 324-6926.
$590 all for a pair of baskets. $295 one, $150 plant material pair of baskets, $50 for one.
In an important milestone, the Village Center plan was approved unanimously by the Chicago Plan Commission August 19, 2010.
Hyde Park Herald, January 20, 2010. By Kate Hawley
Schools, job training and at least one local development project are likely to get funding during the next two years from the 53rd Street TIF, or tax-increment financing, district, said Howard Males, chair of the council that oversees the district, at its jan. 11 meeting.
His remarks came after James Wilson of the city's Department of Community Development presented budget projections for the 53rd Street TIF, the only one in Hyde Park [proper]. The district started 2009 with about $2.5 million and appropriated $157,000 for community job training [CARA/CleanSlate], $150,000 for upgrades to Canter Middle School and $511,500 for the design and construction of accessible ramps on arterial streets. An additional $20,000 was appropriated for a pre-acquisition account. "The pre-acquisition account is money that is set aside for soft costs such a appraisals, surveys and titles," wrote Ted Dygus, on behalf of the Department of Community Development, in an 3-mail. The account is not for any specific project, he added.
The balance in the TIF coffers at the end of 2010 is projected at $2,393,291. That number jumps to $3,126,560 by the end of 2011. During both of those years, the district is projected to generate $746,669 per year in property tax revenue. No expenses are listed during 2010 or 20100 except for $13,400 per year committed to administrative costs [city].
But the TI is still likely to fund local school improvements and job training through Cleanslate, a neighborhood cleanup program that helps the hard-to-employ transition to permanent, stable jobs, according to to Howard males, council chair. "Our commitment to both the jobs program in the form of Cleanslate and local schools remains constant," he said in an interview, adding that funding requests for both items will come before the council.
Males said he expects the developer of the Harper Court project will request TIF funds, given the scope and complexity of the project.... Every effort would be made to ensure that money remained in the coffers for schools and other community projects, he added.
Projections for all of the roughly 160 TIF districts in the city... are now available at the Department of Community Development's Web site.... items [are] listed as either "appropriated," meaning that the city has already approved the use of TIF funds, "committed," meaning that the city has firm plans to move ahead with TIF funding, or "pending," meaning that the use of TIF funds has been proposed....
HPKCC notes possible development impact on 53rd St. TIF budget. January 2010 Conference ReporterSince the Chicago Community Planning and Development department has announced that the 53rd St. TIF will contributing funds to the Harper Court/53rd-Lake Park redevelopment, here is what has been in the pot and what’s projected.
The TIF became fully operational in 2002, but did not start with funds since assignment of any increased tax revenues in the district (“increment”) has a lag of at least a year and there has to be an increase to be assigned, either from increased values or tax rates or from new development. (Borders, BP, and McDonalds were the chief development generators for this TIF.) In recent years, the combined increment has been about $700,000 to $800,000 a year. Most TIFs have seen at least a decline in annual revenues lately, but this TIF’s revenues appear stable.
At the January 11, 2010 TIF meeting, Chair Howard Males said it has been the policy of the TIF council to appropriate half of the revenue each year and squirrel away the rest. Over the past three years, the Council has appropriated largest amounts for CARA/CleanSlate job training and street cleaning, Canter Middle School refurbishments, Small Business Improvement matches, and sidewalk work. The TIF cannot have administrative costs; those of the city are about $13,000 each year.
At the start of 2009, $2,498,522 was in the till and without expenditures would have a projected $3,126,560 at the end of 2011. Assuming half of the $746,660 deposited at the start of the year at the end of 2009 is spent, that would leave a balance of about $2,400,000 at the end of 2010. Males told the January meeting that the Council will be spending an undecided amount on the 53rd-Lake Park project, but certainly not the $2.4 balance. Whether the total spent this year might exceed half of $750,000 was not apparently yet decided.
Recent
Recent years actions: funding of Canter grant, Business Improvement loans, Cleanslate; initiatives to encourage business district and retail building; streetscape such as new curb cuts abilities ramps and markers; 53rd, Harper Court visioning (see 53rd page, Harper Ct. page).
TIF gift gives Canter Middle School a makeover
Herald, May 23 2007. By Nykeya Woods
As the school year ends, Canter Middle School, 959 S. blackstone Ave., its beginning its $150,000 makeover, courtesy of funds approved at the May 14 53rd street Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Advisory Council meeting.
Principal Carolyn Epps said that she wants to create a welcoming environment for junior high school students with new doors, landscaping and and exterior cleaning of the school's two-story building. The allocation is the first for canter. "Ideally we would fix up everything but the exterior is so drab," Epps said. Epps wants to install an electrical sign to replace th e old one. "We want to look like a school you want to go to and not [like] a storage facility," E[[s said. "That is kind of what it looks like now from the the street.
During the meeting, TIF Chairman Howard Males read an e-mail about his concerns for funds to the school. "The Canter representatives have been patient. They've been gracious in waiting for redevelopment to fund a larger scale improvement to their school," Males said.
Males, along with other TIF members Virginia Vaske and Mae Wilson, formed a special committee to talk with Epps. In meetings, the group talked [about] what the school needs and how TIF. funds would be used.
20 percent annual of citywide total TIF money proposed for affordable housing- City Council hearing July 7 2010. Raid or corrective?July 7, 10 am City Hall 2nd fl Council chambers, hearing on requiring 20% of TIF funds to be spent on affordable housing annually. Here are some details and one set of suggested alterations. Local groups such as Coalition for Equitable Community Development are examining the proposal.
The July 6 Sun-Times carries an editorial on the use of 20% of TIF funds for affordable housing. The editorial strongly endorses and gives reasons to recommend, but suggests a number of changes.
Note that the proposed ordinance is for 20% of total TIF money, NOT 20% in every TIF. Not said here is whether this is retroactive to all money in TIFs when it goes into effect but it appears the transfers and requirement would be annual. Not said here is whether such units would have to be inside a TIF district. It would not be just for building new housing, but could also be for preserving or rehabbing existing housing for affordable or converting foreclosed properties into affordable housing.
Recommended changes by Sun-Times:
Reporting requirements said to be weak, esp. that the developers alone would verify family eligibility.
For rental half of apartments in each development would be for families earning 50 percent or less of area median (+$38,000 for family of 54) with 40% for families earning under 23% Sun-Times fears this would derail development or lead to projects that don't enhance property values (which is a main source of increment in the first place). ST would change the percentages to 30% and a bit under 40%.
Homeownership rules: Proposed is that 50 percent of for-sale units be for families making under $60,000. But this is the group that most heavily took the now mortgages in the bubble and then lost them. It might also raise costs to the point that financing could not be obtained. S-T does not suggest an alternative.
The proposal lacks a means to prevent the city form concentrating affordable developments in certain (challenged?) neighborhoods. At least some affordable development should go into TIFs in neighborhoods that are not "challenged" (read Hyde Park 53rd and Cottage Grove TIFs?)
Sun-Times on what happened July 7
Sun-times online July 7, 2010
Plan to set aside TIF money for affordable housing stalls
Comments
July 7, 2010BY FRAN SPIELMAN Staff Reporter
A plan to set aside 20 percent of Chicago’s tax-increment-financing (TIF) funds for affordable housing stalled in a joint City Council committee on Wednesday, despite a grass roots campaign that has pressured at least 27 aldermen to sign on.
The City Council’s Finance and Housing committees took two hours of testimony but no vote on the set-aside plan championed by Ald. Walter Burnett (27th) amid a barrage of questions from supporters and opponents alike.
Aldermen demanded to know how the mandate would impact their control over TIF spending, whether there are enough interested developers to support a 20 percent edict and whether neighborhoods without TIFs would be denied sorely-needed affordable housing. They also questioned how the ordinance would be enforced.
"If procedures they’re proposing are the same as what we’ve got now, what do we need another ordinance for?” said Housing Committee Chairman Ray Suarez (31st).
Burnett countered that TIFs are now being used to subsidize clout-heavy developers and consultants and to pay the salaries of 72 city employees. "Why can’t we give the TIF back to the people who pay the taxes in our community so they can get some affordable housing?” he said. "TIF is the only resource we have that can make things happen. We have to do something about foreclosures and the lack of affordable housing. This money is sitting in a pot while people in our communities are suffering.”
Chicago has 159 TIFs that siphon tens of millions of dollars away from local taxing districts -- by freezing property taxes for 23 years and using the increment for business subsidies and infrastructure improvements within those boundaries.
Burnett’s ordinance would rein in Mayor Daley’s unbridled control over the TIF piggy bank. Twenty percent of funds generated by TIFs in the previous year—$100 million--would be used to either build or preserve affordable housing. The 20 percent would come from the citywide total—not from each TIF, as some aldermen feared.
In 1993, Daley unveiled a five-year plan for affordable housing under pressure from the City Council. Last year, he committed $2.1 billion to create 50,022 units of rental and for-sale housing by 2013.
The City Council also mandated a 20 percent affordable housing set-aside on city-subsidized projects and 10 percent on projects that involve city land, planned developments and zoning changes that increase density.
Daley has taken no public stand on the new ordinance but Burnett knows he’s fighting an uphill battle.
"It’s not that the mayor is against affordable housing. It’s just that he needs to be massaged a little bit and I think he’ll reconsider,” Burnett said.
It’s not the first time Burnett has gone toe-to-toe with Daley on the issue of affordable housing,
During the 2003 City Council debate on the first affordable housing set-aside ordinance, Burnett told Daley that people on the mayor’s own staff “have challenges with affordable housing—whether you know it or not, whether they tell you or not.”
Daley snapped, "Alderman, I know about affordable housing. You don’t have to lecture me.”
Burnett stood his ground, arguing that affordable housing was the decisive issue in the 2003 aldermanic elections.
"We all have to live with that, Mr. Mayor. We cannot be afraid to fight to give people affordable housing. We need more,” he said.
Daley countered, "No one’s afraid to to say what’s right. . . .You’ve always spoken your mind. I’ve allowed that. Never infer that I did not allow that. . . .Don’t infer that I do not listen to you."
From the January 2008 TIFormation annual report document (Note- the formal, thick annual report and audit is available from SECC.)
Summary of 2007 TIF Expenditures
Eligible TIF Expenses
In 2007 the 53rd St. TIF Council approved the use of TIF funds for the following purposes:
What is the 53rd street TIF District?
A TIF (Tax Increment Financing) district is a finance tool established by the City of Chicago to stimulate development in a designated geographic area.
There are over 130 TIF districts in Chicago. The 53rd Street TIF district was formed in 2001.
The increase in property tax revenues resulting from new development and the appreciation of existing property values in the district, are available for use within the district.
The 53rd Street TIF is unique for two distinct reasons:
Governance: A 13-person Advisory Council appointed by Alderman Toni Preckwinkle (4th Ward) meets regularly and serves as a community forum for all projects in the district.
Public Purpose: It was established with the primary purpose of using TIF revenues for public improvements to address:
The City of
Chicago's 2006 Annual Report for the 53rd St. TIF district indicates
that the 53d St. TIF has $2,545,013 available
for TIF eligible expenses, as of the end of the 2006 calendar year.
53rd Street
TIF Advisory Council
Council Members
Howard Males, Chair, Ilene Jo Reizner, Vice Chair, Ginny Vaske, Secretary,
Andre Brumfield, Mitchell Cohen, Jane Comiskey, Antoinette McAllister, Charles
Newsome, Trushar Patel, Rod Sawyer, Laurel Stradford, Chuck Thurow, Tony
Wilkins.
Council Operations
All TIF Council meetings are open to the public. Council meeting minutes
are available from the SECC.
The Council works for the benefit of the community and welcomes the participation of residents and businesses.
The Council has three standing committees: Parking, Planning & Development, an Neighborhood and Business Environment. The Council welcomes the participation of community members. Pleas contact the SECC for meeting information.
2008 Meeting Schedule
January 14, March 20, May 12, July 14, September 8, November 10. All meetings begin at 7 PM and are held at the Hyde Park Park Neighborhood Club, 5480 S. Kenwood Ave., Chicago IL.
For more information on TIF council activities contact the SECC at 773 324-6926 or visit www.vision53.org.
Purpose of the 53rd St. TIF (from 2006 TIFormation)
A TIF (Tax Increment Financing) district is a development finance tool used to stimulate development in a specific geographic area.
The incremental property tax revenues resulting from any new development, and the appreciation of existing property values in the district, are available for use within the district.
The 53rd Street TIF is unique for two distinct reasons:
Governance: A 13-person Advisory Council appointed by Ald. Preckwinkle serves as a community forum for all projects in the district.
Public Purpose: It was established with the primary purpose of using TIF revenues for public improvements to address:
- Parking needs for 53rd Street, and
- Canter Middle School's expansion and renovation needs.
Typically TIF are uses to help developers with a project that is not viable without some form of additional financial assistance.
There are now over 130 TIFs in Chicago, each of which has a 23 year term. The 53rd st. TIF has generated over $1,000,000 since 2001.
What is the 53rd Street TIF District? From January 2006 TIFormation
A TIF (Tax Increment financing district is a development finance tool used to stimulate development i a specific geographic area. The incremental property tax revenues resulting from any new development and the tax revenues resulting from the appreciation of existing property values in the district, are available for use within the district.
The 53rd Street TIF is unique for two distinct reasons:
Governance: A 13-peson Advisory Council appointed by Alderman Toni Preckwinkle (4thWard) serves as a community forum for all projects in the district.
Public Purpose: It was established with the primary purpose of using TIF revenues for public improvements to address: Parking needs for 53rd street and Canter Middle School's expansion and renovation needs.
The City of Chicago's 2005 Annual Report for the 53rd St. TIF district indicates that the 53rd St. TIF has $1, 719,838 available for TIF eligible expenses, as of the end of the 2005 calendar year.
Organization as of July 10, 2006
The TIF consists of council and officers, and three committees
Chair- Howard Males
Council- Three members of this 2-year class agreed to serve again: Andre Brumfield, Roderick Sawyer, Ted Sobel. Declining and thanked: Alex du Buclet, Louis Conforti. Two new members were chosen: Laurel Stradford, Tony Wilkins.
Rest of the council (term expiring in 2007): Jane Comiskey, Howard Males, Trushar Patel, Jo Reizner, Chuck Thurow, Ginny Vaske.Committees (contact the Alderman's office if you wish to volunteer. The committees are the working sessions of the council and their meetings are also public and open): Planning and Development- Chair Chuck Thurow
Parking- Chair Jo Reizner
Business and Environment (was Streetscape)- Co-chairs Andre Brumfield and Jane ComiskeyCommittee mandates:
Planning and Development
- Review of development proposals, RFPs and guidelines
- Recommend zoning, redevelopment and land use policies
- Affordable housing
Neighborhood and Business Environment
- Business retention and recruitment
- Streetscape
- Storefront improvements
- Maintenance and beautification
Parking, Access and Circulation
- Parking and accessibility
- Pedestrian and bicycle enhancements
- Public transit partnerships
The district, set up by the Chicago Department of Planning and approved by the City Council, runs from Woodlawn to Cornell, including most of the 53rd Street commercial strip as well as 4 blocks along auto-oriented Lake Park Avenue and Metra embankment and includes 3 parks (Elm, Nichols, and Spruce) and two schools (Kenwood Academy (high) and Canter Middle School). View TIF maps. View current general zoning land use maps of the district and neighborhood or more detailed maps (with district/ designation numbers).
Stated goals: Reduce or eliminate conditions that qualify the area as a conservation area and to provide the direction and mechanisms necessary to reestablish the area as a vibrant, mixed-use commercial district.
TIF Advisory Council. Read Advisory Council meeting minutes and reports. By-Law revisions. See meeting schedule below. Establishment of a council made quite a stir when debated and accomplished, downtown would not allow it to be more than advisory and discretionary and to the alderman only. In Chicago TIFs are ordinarily controlled behind the scenes by city planning department officials, the Community Development Commission and aldermen. Ald. Preckwinkle's format airs the inter-workings of community development, opening the complicated process to the residents which fund it.
Preckwinkle points to the success of the 53rd street TIF council in getting concessions from retailers like Boarders Books and Music, McDonald's, and BP Amoco when they looked to expand along Hyde Park's Lake Park Avenue in the past tow years. "We've had a group of dedicated volunteers to vet proposals," Preckwinkle said. "As a result of feedback from community members we got a better Borders and a better looking McDonald's."
The appointed TIF Advisory Council to the Alderman discusses and takes advisory positions. Subjects of in-depth presentations and discussion at the open meetings have included the various proposals for the 53rd Mobil-McDonalds site, the Hyde Park Theatre, Harper Court, 53rd Cornell, Village Center, Streetscape 53rd, 55th and Lake Park Avenue and planning viaduct makeover, presentations by Borders, McDonald's, and BP Connect for new development on Lake Park Avenue, zoning reform and much more.
Chairman has Howard Males since the beginning.
Three committees have additional appointees from the neighborhood: Planning and Development (chair Chuck Thurow), Parking (currently in abeyance) , and Streetscape (chair Andre Brumfeld). If you are interested in serving on the Council or a committee, contact the 4th Ward Office-new members are being sought.
Committees charge:
Neighborhood and Business Development (aka R and R). Review and comment on the Lake Park Corridor Plan.
Planning and Development. Develop Guidelines for development of 53rd and Harper and review various plans.
Accessibility (was parking)
What's been happening?
See 53rd Street News. Advisory Council Meetings. What's up/at stake in Dev., Preservation? Development Navigator (and pages in). Also Checkerboard Lounge/Park52. Harper Theater/Herald Bldg. Harper Court Sale page. SBIF. Cleanslate.
Lake Park/viaducts/embankment.See accomplishments, below. Here as a base are a couple of reports on the 2006 and 2007 annual reports. Since the main focus has been on Harper Court area, Canter School, SBIF, Cleanslate, and vetting of a couple of major development proposals (stalled due to the economy, except perhaps Village Center. University purchase of the Mobil station could (esp. if former McDonalds is added) could spark a new "front" for development despite likely opposition, much as UC purchase of Harper Court then Hollywood Video sparked that development. Harper Theater remains a question mark.
Summary of the 2006 Annual Report (FY July 1 2006-June 30 2007)By Gary Ossewaarde
"Property tax revenue for the Project was $812,183 for the year. This was an increase of 69 percent over the prior year. The change in net assets produced an increase in net assets of $825,175. The Project's net assets increased 48 percent from the prior year making available $2,545,013 of funding to be provided for purposes of future redevelopment in the Project's designated area. Revenues increased this year due to the Project's economic growth an accordingly increasing the total equalized assessed value of parcels and subsequent tax increment and related collections."
Expenditures in that year were $16,074 of which $12,352 went to city staff costs. (Significant outlays for Cleanslate, SBIF, Canter School, and Vision process will be shown in the following year.) Excess of Revenues $589,289, Fund balance change $1,283,962 to $1,873,251 (no service or encumbrances).
No property was purchased, sold or transferred. No redevelopment activities were undertaken. No agreements were entered into. No obligations were issued.
The Project did enter into an ongoing Small Business Improvement Fund (SBIF). Estimated to complete $1,500,000 (private investment, no public- but $750,000 would be required to compete at 2:1 ratio.
Reports On the 2006 TIF Annual Reports
Annual Reports of any Chicago TIF can be picked up in room 703 City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle St.
Hyde Park Herald, July 25, 2007. By Seth Ufheil
Last year, more than half a million dollars was generated by th 53rd Street tax Increment financing District (TIF), but none of that money went toward a significant development. Instead, funds were spent only on administrative costs to prepare an annual report on the district's financial activity.
The TIF district, which was established in 1999, is detailed in a 2006 annual report filed with the city's Department of Planning and Development and made available to the public last week.
The additional money collected last year--the majority of which came from property taxes--brings the total amount of funds generated by the TIF to more than $1.8 million. After it was established, Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th) told the community that money raised by the TIF district would be used to help pay for an addition to the Miriam G. Canter Middle School, 4959 S. Blackstone Ave. Another of Preckwinkle's funding priorities is a parking garage for 53rd Street.
To date, neither project has begun, although some TIF money--about $15,000--was approved earlier this year for Canter Middle School to spend on cleaning and landscaping improvements. Another $150,000 has been allocated for Cleanslate, a neighborhood beautification program. Preckwinkle, who had not yet seen the repot, said there was no timetable for the two projects to begin. "We're looking to develop the whole Harper Court city lot," she said. "We're hoping developments at 53rd [Street] and Harper [Avenue] and at the Mobil Mcdonalds site wil contribute to the fund."
The estimated mature value of the 53rd Street TIF is $22 million, but future development along the street could significantly increase the amount of available TIF money because taxes from all new developments would flow into the fund.
About the 2007 TIF Annual ReportHyde Park Herald August 6 2008. By Kate Hawley: TIF funds go to Cleanslate, ...rehabs in 2007
[Note: appears to include expenditures from previous or following year.]
A tax district centered on the 53rd Street commercial strip swelled its coffers by 26 percent to $3.2 million in 2007 from a year earlier, even as it dramatically increased expenditures on job training and small-business programs.
A 2007 annual report released by the city in July gives a breakdown on the finances for the 53rd Street tax increment financing, or TIF, district,... one of about 160 districts citywide. TIFs, which are meant to stimulate neighborhood development, cap property taxes for a 23-year period within the district's boundaries and funnel the excess, or increment, into a fund that can be spent on a range of local projects.
The 53rd Street TIF district spent just $16,047 in 2006. That figure jumped to $185,434 in 2007. A portion of that was set aside for administrative costs. The rest went to two programs new in the financial district that year.
Cleanslate, which received $86,875, offers job training through its neighborhood beautification service. Hyde Parkers have likely seen Cleanslate's interns, as they are called under the program, wearing fluorescent yellow shirts and scouring neighborhood sidewalks for trash.
The Small Business Improvement Fund, or SBIF, a city program that helps small-business owners spruce up their properties, received $79,759. About $34,00 of th at went to Patti and Tom Kidwell, the owners of Chant, 1509 E. 53rd St., for overhaul of the restaurants' interior, according to Derek Walvoord, of SomerCor 504 Inc., the nonprofit that oversees the SBIF program. The remainder went to John Frangias of JGF Management for roof and brick work on a building he owns at 1312 E. 53rd St., Walvoord said. A cafe and sushi bar called The Sit Down is soon to occupy the space. SBIF money has also been allocated for Kimbark Laundry, 1218 E. 53rd St.; Cedars Mediterranean Kitchen, 1206 E. 53rd St.; and Three Pillars Wellness Center, 1516 E. 53rd St.; according to Walvoord.
And $350,000 in TIF money was approved last year, for improvements to Canter Middle School, 4959 S. blackstone Ave. The funds will be matched by Chicago Public Schools, said Irene Sherr, a local consultant who works with the 13-person council that oversees the district.
The council, which holds open meetings and workshops and issues regular publications, provides a level of public participation that is rare among the city's TIF districts, Sherr said. The TIF program has been criticized for its lack of transparency.
The 53rd Street TIF district is also unique in that it wasn't created in order to fund a particular development project, a practice common in other district, she said.
The next major project on tap for the district, the planned redevelopment of the Village Center mall at 1525 E. Hyde Park Blvd., won't use TIF funds, according to its developer, Eli Ungar of Antheus Capital. However, the redevelopment of the Harper Court shopping center on Harper Avenue between 52nd and 53rd Streets, still in the early planning stages, is a likely candidate for TIF subsidy, Sherr said.
The 53rd Street TIF was created in 2001 with an eye toward the development of parking to support future building on 53rd Street, and for securing funds to improve Canter Middle School.
In 2007, the TIF took in $808,219 in property tax revenue, a decrease of less than 1 percent from the previous year.
Accomplished by the TIF: Streetscape improvements. New construction includes Borders, McDonalds on Lake Park, BP Connect, CVS Pharmacy, and the Hyde Park Bank remodeling, Checkerboard Lounge and Park 52. Small Business Improvement loans. Major renovations at Canter Middle School. Cleanslate program. Standards and categories/ped-friendly and transit-oriented districts tested out in the TIF creation process are in the 2004 Zoning Ordinance. Vetted major proposals, with Harper/53rd Lake Park likely to start in 2011.Possibly to go forward soon: Village Center at Lake Park and E. Hyde Park (Antheus, vetted and approved by TIF)
Possibly to be proposed next: proposal for the Mobil/former McDonald's site north side of 53rd at Kenwood, proposal for Harper Theater/Herald Building.
Possibilities further out: Something behind the Bank 53rd or along Lake Park between Harper/53rd Lake Park and Village Center, or who knows what.
What is a "TIF"? And why on 53rd?
TIF means tax increment(al) funding. A district is created in which any increase in tax revenue is assigned to the district rather than to the regular taxing bodies (city, county, schools, parks, libraries, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, etc.) for a number of years, generally 23, to be spent as the district wills within tightly prescribed limits. The gain for the other taxing bodies is down the road, when the spent increment has (it is hoped) built a much bigger tax base. Stimulation of development, conserving the bounded area through guidelines, streetscape improvements, needed infrastructure such as parking garage, improvement of schools and parks within the district are some of the things spent for in a commercial area TIF and in particular 53rd TIF. This particular TIF is different in that it is not to benefit any particular developer and Alderman Preckwinkle was able to establish an advisory council to advise her despite strong opposition to that downtown. This TIF district was approved subsequent to a recommendatory Designation assessment by the S. B. Friedman firm.
TIF's have been controversial in Chicago. The best, although not unbiased, research is available from the Neighborhood Capital Budget Group. The Chicago Department of Planning and Development also has detailed guidelines and forms. (Did you know that you can register at City Hall (on line, too) with the Department of Planning as a TIF Interested Person and receive regular reports and notice of hearings on any TIF you designate?) General information which can be used in guiding the TIF is disseminated by the Metropolitan Planning Council, particularly its coalition group, Campaign for Sensible Growth. To receive their growing set of brochures on community design, call Ellen Shubart, 312 863-6009.
NCBG has tied its TIF task force to a "TIF/Neighborhood Accountable Development" agenda.
Although one could quibble as to whether 53rd Street met the letter of state law criteria for a conservation (i.e. in-trouble) area, as certified in a thorough study documenting the proposed district, 53rd has needs, including aging/deteriorating and obsolescent structures, poor use of land, and the fact that its tax base growth lags the residential sector of the neighborhood. 53rd is good example of a strong pedestrian-oriented commercial strip strategically located by transit nodes that can be improved by targeted spending of funds. A TIF seems the only way to get a garage and it can create the positive atmosphere and synergy to induce both developers and current property owners to spend for improvement and yet shape that development through community-accountable guidelines.
This advisory council also acts as a town meeting and gathering place for diverse community leaders--for example, two board members of the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference currently serve on the council and other HPKCC board members are on the expanded committees (Parking, Streetscape, and Planning and Development). More neighborhoods are following ours in creating grass roots redevelopment plans leading to commercial district TIFs.
Establishment of the TIF was a long city process. It followed upon a period when solutions for 53rd languished a after a big push by the Ad Hoc Committee for 53rd Street (a part of HPKCC) for improvements. These included at one time an attempt to form a Special Assessment District. A city planning grant helped, administered by Alderman's Preckwinkle's office and the South East Chicago Commission. HPKCC members also served on the advising task force of that effort along with SECC, Chamber of Commerce and Harper Court Foundation members. Consultants distributed a report, A Vision for Hyde Park (available for examination at the Conference or SECC offices). The advising task force and Alderman Preckwinkle turned to a TIF as the most likely way to get improvements, including parking, streetscape (although this was so far funded by the city, not the TIF), guidelines, and new development. Many continue to hope that holes in our retail mix will be filled, some perhaps with larger stores, through what TIF funds can facilitate. From the Vision for Hyde Park project through formation and first actions of the TIF council, Hyde Park has paralleled the goals of the zoning reform effort.
Link to Chicago Reader assessments of TIFs in Chicago
The following apply principally to the downtown TIF and do not distinguish out neighborhood TIFs
http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/shadow-budget-tif/Content?oid=1251320
http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/the-chicago-shadow-tif-budget/Content?oid=1218391
2009: TIFs took in about $495 million overall in Chicago.
Preckwinkle calls for local oversight of 43rd St. TIF (Cottage 39th-50th), potential role of tifs and boards (in the few that have them). Cottage Grove Corridor background, studies- see following feature.
Things were moving ahead very fast in 2007 with the coalition of Quad Cities, O-H Community Partners, Dept of Planning, Skidmore, Ald. Preckwinkle, Mahogany Ventures, Cottage Grove Development. Getting under way are a big shopping center on the southwest corner of Cottage Grove and 47th (that will tear down the Booker bldg. of the designer of Harper Theater despite calls by Quad Cities leader Bernita Johnson-Gabriel) and a whole string of new businesses and mixed development plus town houses along cottage including a beauty business that employees ex-offenders. On the table also is an arts and recreation center (including a pool) for 37th and Cottage.
In 2008, a $12 million Cottage Grove Restoration Initiative has started to provide loans to rehabilitate business facilities and get buildings ready to lease.
The newly-appointed 15 member advisory council first meets Wed., at King Community Center, 4314 S. Cottage. 773 535-8103 (4th Ward office). Expansion of the earlier TIF at 43rd was proposed by the alderman in early 2004. Apparently there was some concern about the city acquiring and bundling large amounts of vacant land without much public oversight. We wish the best to the new council in its oversight and envisionment roles. In October 2009, City Council, approved the SSA taxing district component, designated #47.
Appointed to the Commission in 2009 by Ald. Preckwinkle: Szymon Leja, Bwati Davis, Yonanda Travis, Katharyn Houke-Smith, Laura Lane, Tonya Primus, Rosalind Goodwin, Loron Pikofsky, Lamont Robinson.
More on LISC New Communities initiative: www.newcommunities.org. And Quad Cities.
20 percent annual of citywide total TIF money proposed for affordable housing- City Council hearing July 7 2010. Raid or corrective?
July 7, 10 am City Hall 2nd fl Council chambers, hearing on requiring 20% of TIF funds to be spent on affordable housing annually. Here are some details and one set of suggested alterations. Local groups such as Coalition for Equitable Community Development are examining the proposal.
Sun-Times on what happened July 7
Sun-times online July 7, 2010
Plan to set aside TIF money for affordable housing stalls
Comments
July 7, 2010BY FRAN SPIELMAN Staff Reporter
A plan to set aside 20 percent of Chicago’s tax-increment-financing (TIF) funds for affordable housing stalled in a joint City Council committee on Wednesday, despite a grass roots campaign that has pressured at least 27 aldermen to sign on.
The City Council’s Finance and Housing committees took two hours of testimony but no vote on the set-aside plan championed by Ald. Walter Burnett (27th) amid a barrage of questions from supporters and opponents alike.
Aldermen demanded to know how the mandate would impact their control over TIF spending, whether there are enough interested developers to support a 20 percent edict and whether neighborhoods without TIFs would be denied sorely-needed affordable housing. They also questioned how the ordinance would be enforced.
"If procedures they’re proposing are the same as what we’ve got now, what do we need another ordinance for?” said Housing Committee Chairman Ray Suarez (31st).
Burnett countered that TIFs are now being used to subsidize clout-heavy developers and consultants and to pay the salaries of 72 city employees. "Why can’t we give the TIF back to the people who pay the taxes in our community so they can get some affordable housing?” he said. "TIF is the only resource we have that can make things happen. We have to do something about foreclosures and the lack of affordable housing. This money is sitting in a pot while people in our communities are suffering.”
Chicago has 159 TIFs that siphon tens of millions of dollars away from local taxing districts -- by freezing property taxes for 23 years and using the increment for business subsidies and infrastructure improvements within those boundaries.
Burnett’s ordinance would rein in Mayor Daley’s unbridled control over the TIF piggy bank. Twenty percent of funds generated by TIFs in the previous year—$100 million--would be used to either build or preserve affordable housing. The 20 percent would come from the citywide total—not from each TIF, as some aldermen feared.
In 1993, Daley unveiled a five-year plan for affordable housing under pressure from the City Council. Last year, he committed $2.1 billion to create 50,022 units of rental and for-sale housing by 2013.
The City Council also mandated a 20 percent affordable housing set-aside on city-subsidized projects and 10 percent on projects that involve city land, planned developments and zoning changes that increase density.
Daley has taken no public stand on the new ordinance but Burnett knows he’s fighting an uphill battle.
"It’s not that the mayor is against affordable housing. It’s just that he needs to be massaged a little bit and I think he’ll reconsider,” Burnett said.
It’s not the first time Burnett has gone toe-to-toe with Daley on the issue of affordable housing,
During the 2003 City Council debate on the first affordable housing set-aside ordinance, Burnett told Daley that people on the mayor’s own staff “have challenges with affordable housing—whether you know it or not, whether they tell you or not.”
Daley snapped, "Alderman, I know about affordable housing. You don’t have to lecture me.”
Burnett stood his ground, arguing that affordable housing was the decisive issue in the 2003 aldermanic elections.
"We all have to live with that, Mr. Mayor. We cannot be afraid to fight to give people affordable housing. We need more,” he said.
Daley countered, "No one’s afraid to to say what’s right. . . .You’ve always spoken your mind. I’ve allowed that. Never infer that I did not allow that. . . .Don’t infer that I do not listen to you."
TIFS TO BE MODIFIED FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING? July 7, 10 am City Hall 2nd fl Council chambers, there was a hearing on requiring 20% of TIF funds to be spent on affordable housing annually. Here are some details and one set of suggested alterations. Local groups such as Coalition for Equitable Community Development are examining the proposal. It was sent back to committee.
The July 6 Sun-Times carries an editorial on the use of 20% of TIF funds for affordable housing. The editorial strongly endorses and gives reasons to recommend, but suggests a number of changes.
Note that the proposed ordinance is for 20% of total TIF money, NOT 20% in every TIF. Not said here is whether this is retroactive to all money in TIFs when it goes into effect but it appears the transfers and requirement would be annual. Not said here is whether such units would have to be inside a TIF district. It would not be just for building new housing, but could also be for preserving or rehabbing existing housing for affordable or converting foreclosed properties into affordable housing.
Recommended changes by Sun-Times:
Reporting requirements said to be weak, esp. that the developers alone would verify family eligibility.
For rental half of apartments in each development would be for families earning 50 percent or less of area median (+$38,000 for family of 54) with 40% for families earning under 23% Sun-Times fears this would derail development or lead to projects that don't enhance property values (which is a main source of increment in the first place). ST would change the percentages to 30% and a bit under 40%.
Homeownership rules: Proposed is that 50 percent of for-sale units be for families making under $60,000. But this is the group that most heavily took the now mortgages in the bubble and then lost them. It might also raise costs to the point that financing could not be obtained. S-T does not suggest an alternative.
The proposal lacks a means to prevent the city form concentrating affordable developments in certain (challenged?) neighborhoods. At least some affordable development should go into TIFs in neighborhoods that are not "challenged" (read Hyde Park 53rd and Cottage Grove TIFs?)
Herald July 21 2010- a complicated change being tweaked. Local Alds. back housing bill. By Sam Cholke
Local aldermen have joined over half o their colleagues in supporting an ordinance that would mandate more tax increment financing (TIF) money get funneled into affordable housing development. "Once every decade there's another idea about affordable housing and how we can bring more resources to the table" said Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th), who co-sponsored the City Council's 1993 and 1999 ordinances that increased city spending on low-and moderate-income housing.
The current idea, the Sweet Home Chicago ordinance drafted by Ald. walter Burnett Jr. (27th) and the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, would pump more TIF funding into affordable housing developments. "This ordinance is quite simple in how it would work," Julie Dworkin, director of policy for the Coalition for the Homeless, told a joint meeting of the Housing and Finance committees on July 7. Dworkin said the coalition is pursuing TIF funding to fill the gap left by dwindling state and federal funding for affordable housing.
For example, TIFs brought in about $495 million in revenue in 2009. Under the proposed ordinance, the city should then commit close to $100 million to affordable housing projects in 2010. "It doesn't take that many projects to get to $100 million," said Adam Gross, a lawyer from the Business and Professional People for the Public Interest, a group that is advising aldermen on the ordinance.
The ordinance sets teh benchmark for how much should be spent; t does not specify where it should be spent. [describes TIFs, ...TIFs can bed set up to spur commercial, industrial or residential development, or as a mixture of uses. Most TIFs are mixed use. There are 16 residential TIFs in the city, 11 of which are in Bronzeville.
"We have to be careful - we have a lot of affordable housing already," said Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd), whose ward contains many TIFs that were set up to fund the redevelopment of public housing redevelopments. "In the 3rd Ward, I would rather used the TIFs for retail development."
Preckwinkle said there is already a tremendous amount of TIF money being committed to affordable housing in her ward. Aldermen control how TIF money is spent, and if South Side aldermen cannot find affordable housing projects to help satisfy the ordinance, the city will have to look elsewhere. Many of the TIFs on the North Side are mixed-use districts, but are set along narrow commercial strips and have built-in plans for how funds are intended to be used, rendering affordable housing projects in those district difficult, though not impossible.
teh city could look on the West side, where many TIFs cover large residential areas and are intended to spur mixed-use projects that include residential. The Midwest TIF, which covers much of North Lawndale and East Garfield Park, is one of th e largest West side TIFs. It would not likely be able to accommodated new housing projects as it is projected to end the year overextended by $6.8 million. The neighboring Pulaski Ogden TIF, which also covers portions of North Lawndale, could not likely accommodate affordable housing developments either because it has not generated any revenue since it was created last year.
the Englewood Neighborhood TIF, set to spur residential and commercial development ad currently invested heavily in retail development, could accommodated some affordable housing projects. But even if the Englewood TIF were to commit all of its yearly $4.2 million in revenue, the Sweet Home Chicago ordinance's benchmarks would still stand far from being satisfied.
The Sweet Home Chicago ordinance is still a work in progress adn aldermen are expected to hold a second round of public hearings before any action is taken. "I doubt it will be exactly what was introduced," Preckwinkle said.
