It's time to end the TIF madness

Not hearing any talk of TIF reform coming out of Springfield. It's an overused sacred cow in Illinois.

Every week, maybe every day, there's another news story about a new TIF, an extended TIF, or how suburbs compare with each other in offering sales tax rebates and other incentives.

Who gets left holding the bag? Homeowners who pay sky-high property taxes that are on par with their mortgage payments.

Visitors from other states are shocked when we compare property taxes. I'll tell you a little secret, even if we had zero incentives, there would still be a need for condos, grocery stores, and car dealers; and they would be built in places where they make economic sense; and they would generate tax revenue; and ALL of it would go to the taxing bodies instead of lining the pockets of the developers and fat cats who get to play in the incentive game.

The Chicago TIF Illumination Project reports that in 2014 Chicago TIFs alone held over $1.4 billion in tax money, and extracted over $425 million dollars of revenue. I wonder what the total amount is of all tax incentive expenditures in Illinois?

It's time to write your legislators and call for an end to this madness.

Michael J. Witte

Arlington Heights