Lake Shore Drive Marchers Here S The Real Lowdown On The City S Budget

With activists Tio Hardiman and other activists preparing to march on Lake Shore Drive toward Wrigley Field next Thursday, demanding more equity in city spending, I figure it’s as good a time as ever to make sure west- and south-siders are wise to a little scam called the tax increment financing program.

           Boiled down to the basics, it’s in effect a surcharge slapped on your property tax bills that generates well over $500 million a year.

           Man, you can open a lot of mental health clinics with $1.68 billion.

It’s the poor communities TIFs are supposedly intended for—like Englewood, Roseland, Austin, and North Lawndale—that get the least amount of TIF money.

           Though if they’re south- or west-side aldermen, it’s more like a crumb.

           In response the mayor took away the TIF money from DePaul and Marriott.