Taxpayers to see TIF tally

Cook County property owners next year will for the first time see how much they pay toward tax-increment financing districts.

Cook County property owners next year will for the first time see how much they pay toward tax-increment financing districts, Cook County Clerk David Orr said Thursday.

In announcing 2012 revenue for TIF districts in Chicago and Cook County suburbs, Orr said the county is changing the format of the twice-yearly tax bills. Starting with the summer bills of 2014, taxpayers will see how much — if anything — they pay into a TIF.

Tax bills break out amounts paid to every local government, but they are inaccurate for property in TIF districts. Owners of homes and businesses might think their money is supporting schools and municipal services, when much of it could be diverted to a TIF.

Orr said the change will improve accountability for TIFs, a tool for economic development that many think is misused or poorly controlled.

The clerk said Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has improved the city’s reporting of TIF activity. He praised the mayor for “slowing the stampede” of TIF creation that occurred under former Mayor Richard M. Daley.

With 154 TIFs, the city canceled nine last year and added none, Orr said.

But Orr said Chicago, which collected $457 million from its TIFs in 2012, should declare a surplus of those funds and remit money to the schools. “How do you explain to the kids in many of these schools that gym, music, art and other things are canceled while profitable businesses” received TIF subsidies, Orr said.