On July 21, Mayor Emanuel broke the bad news to Chicago Public School parents, teachers, and students: Sorry, but we have no money, so I’m going to have to cut another $140 million from our schools—even with all the hype over the so-called bailout deal in Springfield.
Yes, folks, it looks like the time has come for me to take another deep dive into the fecund swamp known as our tax increment financing program.
Instead, we follow a scenario that works like this: You, the property owner, send your property taxes to the county treasurer. And the county clerk tells the treasurer where that money will go.
So every year he prepares his report. Really, it should be coming from the mayor’s office, but the mayor wouldn’t reveal how much extra we’re all paying in taxes unless you yanked out his wisdom teeth without Novocain.
This year the city’s TIF districts generated 24 percent more money, or $89 million more, than they did last year.
But by jacking up the tax rate, he also added another $25 million to the TIF slush fund, according to the clerk’s report.
