By: Diane Benjamin
Downtown TIF report filed with the State of Illinois for 2010: 2010 Report
Downtown TIF report filed with the State of Illinois for 2011: 2011 Report
Both reports are filed by the same guy – the Finance Director at the time, Tim Irvin.
You don’t have to be a CPA to see a problem!
The below is from the 2010 report.
This pic is from the 2011 Report:
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Then Mayor Steve Stockton signed a statement saying the City complied with the TIF law. The Corporate Council also signed a similar statement.
The financial statements were audited by Sikich.
Since the $23,500,000 was continued after 2011, 2010 has to be a big error.
The State of Illinois requires these filing, but obviously they aren’t reviewed.
The question now is how accurate are these filings?
Information is included on the reports filed with the State of Illinois on who received TIF funds. That information is not on the audited financial statements.
Again, how accurate are the reports?
TIFs require a lot of administration, accounting, and auditing. Most information isn’t public, it’s a slush fund for government.
Information prior to 2010 isn’t available without FOIA requests. As reported yesterday, even info acquired by FOIA may not be complete: https://blnnews.com/2016/04/10/more-on-the-old-downtown-tif/
Tracing who got money will take A LOT of time. Standby.
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When it walks crooked like a duck and squawks like a duck it’s probably a crooked duck!
Oh, but this time the TIF will be better managed, says the Mayor. Dr. Reilly, District 87 Superintendent, spoke against the the Empire TIF district for the very reason that the previous TIFs were not handled well. As was reported previously, the municipal attorney, Ms. Orr, determined the 1986 Downtown TIF was not a success. The current ED director for the city, Mr. Grammer, seems to think TIFs are the golden arrow for economic development. For all I know, the funds generated from the Empire TIF will be used for the downtown.
Mr. Grammar will do as he is told,,,move along, nothing else to expect from him.
Only a wee bit off topic but does anyone know if Green Top Grocery falls within the Empire TIF? You mention municipal slush fund and this came to mind – “You know, if we just had another $450,000, we could make this thing work”.
They don’t. They already received multiple tax breaks.