Moving Our Community Forward Through Responsible TIF Management
Moving Our Community Forward Through Responsible TIF Management
Molly has long been familiar with Tax Increment Financing as a development tool. And Molly understands how this tool, meant to help redevelop blighted areas, has been abused.
What is a TIF?
Tax Increment Financing allows for the diversion of future property tax revenue growth to a special fund used to pay for development projects and infrastructure. When used properly, TIFs help promote job growth and provide for nicer neighborhoods. TIFs are useful in spurring business development in blighted neighborhoods where development wouldn’t happen any other way. But when abused, TIFs can become secretive slush funds that divert money from schools, parks, and the city’s general tax revenue to privileged insiders and corporations.
Molly has experience fighting to improve TIF programs. Molly was recruited by her neighbors in 2008 to lead Fix Wilson Yard, a group that fought for transparency and accountability at the Wilson Yard TIF project and for TIFs throughout Chicago.
Responsible TIF Management
Molly is skeptical that our community needs this diversion of tax dollars to fund private development. However, if the community is going to use TIF money for development, Molly wants every single dollar to generate decent jobs for our neighborhoods. She wants to make sure that we are creating as many jobs as possible with as little TIF investment as possible.
An Open TIF Process
Molly has long advocated for an open TIF budgeting process. The community should know about TIF proposals well before any decision is made, and the community must have a voice in deciding how that money is spent. Molly will create a transparent process where residents can share their ideas and make their voices heard.
Molly also will work with experts to learn how we can create the most impact for the least amount of TIF spending. Now, people who make these decisions too often just take developers at face value. We need an independent analysis of how to best spend the money. And, where appropriate, Molly will work to retire TIFs early so the extra property tax revenue can again flow to our schools, parks, and police.
