RECOMMENDATIONS FROM RECENT STUDIES

TIF districts can be powerful, but how do you make them more transparent and effective? Here are recommendations for Chicago culled from recent studies:

1. Plan ahead. The city should issue a multiyear capital budget, showing all public and private projects and the source of their money, whether it’s TIF or other funds. The City Council should review and approve this document.

2. Let’s see the bill. Show property owners what they pay toward a TIF, if anything, by putting it on their tax bills. Cook County Clerk David Orr said this change will take effect next year.

3. Help local governments. Proposals for new TIF districts should include a study of their fiscal impact on the taxing agencies. The General Assembly should consider whether to index for inflation the “base” property tax revenue in each TIF.

4. Improve oversight. The mayoral-appointed Community Development Commission reviews private development agreements but rarely questions anything. It needs to be strengthened or replaced. Some suggest neighborhood panels similar to Local School Councils.

5. Report, report. Lay out clearly for every district what’s coming in, what’s going out and for what purpose, now and for the next few years. Mayor Rahm Emanuel has improved this, recently posting budgets for every TIF through 2017.