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Daley aims to delay sunset on big TIF; Move would add $1 billion to Loop development kittyCrain's Chicago BusinessMay 21, 2007By Greg HinzCity Hall is moving to replenish Mayor Richard M. Daley's favorite development honey pot. Sources in Springfield and Chicago say the city is briefing insiders on legislation to extend the life of most of the giant Central Loop tax-increment financing (TIF) district for an extra 12 years. Such a measure could come before lawmakers this spring or fall. The move likely would generate, over the next 12 years, more than $1 billion in new funds for downtown development subsidies, transit projects, parks and perhaps costs related to hosting the 2016 Summer Olympics. But it could also trigger tax hikes by schools and other taxing bodies outside the TIF district. Rumors of the legislation have been swirling for more than a year, and Mr. Daley's office is not denying that something is up. The necessary legislation ``hasn't been introduced. We can't talk about it officially,'' a spokeswoman for the mayor says. ``That hasn't officially happened, and there'll be no official comment until that happens.'' Other sources say a bill labeled HB2500 is a potential vehicle for the legislation. Sponsored by House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, the TIF extension bill is sitting in a committee and could quickly be amended and moved to the House floor. Driving the City Hall move is Mr. Daley's incessant demand for cash for public works and development downtown. Existing income from the Central Loop TIF, known as increment, has long since been committed to everything from development of Millennium Park and the Randolph Street theater district to rebuilding train stops. Mr. Daley's plan has support from Gerald Roper, president and CEO of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, who says the central area needs continued growth if it is to remain healthy. But Cook County Commissioner Michael Quigley says the extension amounts to ``a huge hidden tax increase'' on other property owners outside the district. Laurence Msall, president of the Civic Federation, says the tax watchdog group believes most TIF spending has been worthwhile, but argues that the city should approve all TIF expenditures as part of its annual budget rather than on a project-by-project basis. The Central Loop TIF originally was enacted by Mayor Jane Byrne as the North Loop TIF, and under state law is due to expire next year, 23 years after its formation. Mr. Daley wants to continue the newer, much larger portion of the district that was added at his request in 1997, sources familiar with the matter report. That would allow the city to get a full 23 years of income from the entire district, not just the old portion. Mr. Msall says it is ``not unreasonable to project'' that increment from the new portion of the district would exceed $1 billion over 12 years, based on current total increment of about $100 million a year. When a TIF district is formed, its property values are frozen for purposes of regular property taxes. All income from growth in land values-the increment-goes not to the Board of Education and other government bodies but to the city for development needs in the TIF district. Schools and other governments are able to recapture much of the taxes ``lost'' to TIFs by raising tax bills on other taxpayers.
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