Change is Coming to Bronzeville
Grassroots Leadership from Chicago to The World!
Harold L. Lucas's Discussions
Building the Recovery from the bottom-up in Bronzeville
Started Jan 30
Harold L. Lucas's Page
Latest Activity
Black Metropolis National Heritage Area Commission breakfast meeting convened at the Bronzeville Visitor Information Center.
Comment Wall (4 comments)
- At 6:07pm on September 7, 2009,
Kenya Renee said…
- At 6:07pm on September 7, 2009,
Kenya Renee said…
- HELLO TO ALL MY FRIENDS/ASSOCIATES/MARKETING AFFLIATES
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the cycle commercial
- At 5:41pm on September 5, 2009,
www.makemoneywith-google.com said… - I just made $1052 this week working from home for google. I cant believe how easy this is. Im recommending this to everyone, check out this guys google blog makemoneywith-google.com
- At 7:35am on February 24, 2009,
Harold L. Lucas said…
- Opening a window on Daley's piggy bank
Recommend (13)
Comments
February 23, 2009
When homeowners hear the phrase "tax increment financing districts" -- also known as TIF districts -- their eyes glaze over, if they know about them at all.
We admit it. TIFs are about as sexy as Alan Greenspan in a Speedo.
So to keep your attention, we're going to call them what they really are:
Mayor Daley's private piggy bank.
Essentially, TIF districts allow the mayor to use hundreds of millions of dollars from the property taxes you and your neighbors pay for what he would like done in town.
With amazingly little oversight.
TIF money, for instance, helped pay for Millennium Park.
It may also help pay for the Olympics in Chicago.
How much money are we talking about?
In 2007 alone, the city collected more than $550 million from its TIF districts.
Where does the money come from?
When the City Council sets up a TIF district in your neighborhood, all of the property tax money going to schools, parks and other taxing bodies is frozen at the current level for 23 years. Any new money generated from rising property values or new development goes into the TIF fund.
You can see how that money can add up -- money that is supposed to go back into the neighborhoods for redevelopment or other worthy projects.
Some cynics have suggested that the "worthiest" TIF deals involving the private sector are the ones that happen to have the biggest clout.
But we hate to be cynical.
As you might suspect, the mayor thinks the TIF program is wonderful. He insists TIFs don't result in higher property taxes for homeowners, although, of course, they do.
When schools, parks and other taxing bodies need more money because their expenses are going up, and they're not getting the money from rising property values or new development because that money goes into the TIF funds, who do you think they're getting it from?
They raise their tax rates, and they get it, in part, from you, dear homeowner.
As you might also suspect, if you'd like to learn the nitty gritty details of how TIF money is spent, and what kind of protections are in place to ensure taxpayers get a good return on their hard-earned property tax dollars -- well, those details are not particularly easy to come by.
All of the information is public, so sure, you could file a Freedom of Information request to get the information.
Best of luck to you.
Hope you're not in a hurry.
A lot of the information is online, too.
That is, if you've got hours to spend to hunt it down.
That's why we support a modest proposal from two aldermen, Manny Flores and Scott Waguespack, to put all of the information from TIF projects in one convenient location on the city's Web site.
The aldermen were inspired after the details of the deal the city made with Republic Windows and Doors came to light.
That's the factory where workers staged a sit-in to get their vacation and severance pay after the business shut its doors last December.
Republic had received almost $10 million from the city in a TIF deal to help build the factory. In this case, the money came from bonds backed by TIF revenue.
In return, Republic promised to keep more than 600 workers on payroll through 2019.
Now Republic has closed. Those jobs are gone. And that nearly $10 million, which would have gone to schools, parks and public services, is gone, too.
Some critics have blasted the deal the city cut with Republic, saying it didn't put enough teeth into the deal regarding the job guarantees.
That's an excellent subject for a serious discussion, but it's the kind of debate you'll rarely hear because the city's TIF deals are far from transparent.
Flores and Waguespack's proposal is a small step, but an important one, in the right direction.
Profile Information
- Zip Code:
- 60653
- About Me:
- I am President/CE0 of Black Metropolis Convention & Tourism Council (BMC&TC) a 501 c3 not-for-profit Destination Marketing Organization (DMO), focused on the development of the historic Bronzeville community as a premier African American Heritage Tourism Destination.
BMC&TC owns and operates the Bronzeville Visitor Information Center, Gift Shop and Exhibit Gallery in the historic landmark Supreme Liberty/Life Building, strategically located at the Gateway to the Black Metropolis District National Heritage Area.
- Company or Organization Name
- Black Metropolis Convention & Tourism Council
- Industry
- Education, Business, Real Estate, Investor, Art, Tourisim, Travel, Technology, Construction
- Website:
- http://www.bronzevilleonline.com
- Facebook ID:
- http://www.bronzevilleonline.com
- What your goals for building a better Bronzeville community?
- Build a bottom-up civic engagement apparatus made up of community based stakeholders. The stakeholders working collaboratively, will be enabled to establish urban policy and legislative agendas that create jobs and entreprenurial business opportunities, that help revitalize the commercial districts throughout the geographic boundaries of the Black Metropolis District National Heritage Area.
Harold L. Lucas's Photos
Harold L. Lucas's Blog
CAN-TV Channel 19 broadcast of the Bronzeville International Summit II December 12, 2008
To: Bronzeville Obama/Biden Home Group participants:
From: Harold L. Lucas, Black Metropolis Convention & Tourism Council
If you are up this morning, tune in to CAN-TV Channel 19 at 9 AM to watch the Bronzeville International Summit II event that took place at U.S. Cellular Field on December 12, 2008. Viewing this summit event during Black History Month, will give you a broader African American perspective on the sustainable work that has been achieved over the years in preserving and deve… Continue
From: Harold L. Lucas, Black Metropolis Convention & Tourism Council
If you are up this morning, tune in to CAN-TV Channel 19 at 9 AM to watch the Bronzeville International Summit II event that took place at U.S. Cellular Field on December 12, 2008. Viewing this summit event during Black History Month, will give you a broader African American perspective on the sustainable work that has been achieved over the years in preserving and deve… Continue
Posted on February 3, 2009 at 9:07am —
A Black History month tour of Chicaog's rich history
Chicago Tribune
A tour of Chicago's rich black history
By Don Terry | Tribune reporter
February 1, 2009
Any tour of black history in Chicago should include a stop at the two-story building on the southeast corner of 35th Street and South King Drive, just across from the White Castle.
The building, designated a Chicago landmark in 1998, is the former headquarters of the Supreme Life Insurance Co., the first African-American-owned and -operated insurance company in the northern United States.
Su… Continue
A tour of Chicago's rich black history
By Don Terry | Tribune reporter
February 1, 2009
Any tour of black history in Chicago should include a stop at the two-story building on the southeast corner of 35th Street and South King Drive, just across from the White Castle.
The building, designated a Chicago landmark in 1998, is the former headquarters of the Supreme Life Insurance Co., the first African-American-owned and -operated insurance company in the northern United States.
Su… Continue
Posted on February 2, 2009 at 10:31pm —
The Bronzeville Visitor Information Center will host a Two Day Community Open House Free Admission J…
The Bronzeville Visitor Information Center
will host a Two Day Community Open House
Free Admission
Jan. 19, 2009 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday
Jan. 20, 2009 Inauguration Ceremony 144th President
Monday
Jan. 19
Help Support our
Public Service
Project with CollectiveGood - the mobile devices recycling resource. If you have spare mobile phones, pagers or PDAs sitting on a shelf or in a drawer, you can recycle them here in an environmentally responsible manner.
Collective Good
Bobby
Sengst… Continue
will host a Two Day Community Open House
Free Admission
Jan. 19, 2009 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday
Jan. 20, 2009 Inauguration Ceremony 144th President
Monday
Jan. 19
Help Support our
Public Service
Project with CollectiveGood - the mobile devices recycling resource. If you have spare mobile phones, pagers or PDAs sitting on a shelf or in a drawer, you can recycle them here in an environmentally responsible manner.
Collective Good
Bobby
Sengst… Continue
Posted on January 13, 2009 at 8:56pm —
The Bronzeville Alliance
Sent: Monday, January 12, 2009 7:42 PM
Subject: Notes from 1/7/09 Bronzeville Alliance Meeting
From: Bernard Loyd
Colleagues,
Thank you for participating in the Bronzeville Alliance’s January 2009 meeting hosted by the Bronzeville Visitor Information Center.
At this meeting we reviewed our December 6 Bronzeville Forum at which we explored the future of Bronzeville and celebrated Timuel Black. As per Leana’s summary, we were very pleased with the high level of participation of our city an… Continue
Subject: Notes from 1/7/09 Bronzeville Alliance Meeting
From: Bernard Loyd
Colleagues,
Thank you for participating in the Bronzeville Alliance’s January 2009 meeting hosted by the Bronzeville Visitor Information Center.
At this meeting we reviewed our December 6 Bronzeville Forum at which we explored the future of Bronzeville and celebrated Timuel Black. As per Leana’s summary, we were very pleased with the high level of participation of our city an… Continue
Posted on January 12, 2009 at 9:30pm —
Don Samuelson's perspective of Bronzeville as a Promise Neighborhood
Some Preliminary, "Draft" and General Thinking About
Possible Inauguration Day Events in Bronzeville
Don S. Samuelson
847-420-1732, DSSA310@aol.com
These thoughts are not gospel. They represent the journey the ideas of Inauguration Day events in Bronzeville have taken over the past several weeks. They represent a framework. An outline of possibilities. To be considered and reviewed by others.
The Beginning Thoughts:
It seemed to me that Inauguration Day presented the opportunity for Bronzevi… Continue
Possible Inauguration Day Events in Bronzeville
Don S. Samuelson
847-420-1732, DSSA310@aol.com
These thoughts are not gospel. They represent the journey the ideas of Inauguration Day events in Bronzeville have taken over the past several weeks. They represent a framework. An outline of possibilities. To be considered and reviewed by others.
The Beginning Thoughts:
It seemed to me that Inauguration Day presented the opportunity for Bronzevi… Continue
Posted on January 12, 2009 at 9:01pm — 2 Comments
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