By: Diane Benjamin
Yesterday I did two stories on past due Tax Increment Financing reports:
https://blnnews.com/2017/11/03/is-normal-hiding-tif-data/
https://blnnews.com/2017/11/03/bloomington-plays-the-same-tif-game/
First: It is ridiculous the citizens have to wait over 6 months after a year-end for financial information.
Second: If you look under Finance on both the Bloomington and Normal websites, there are NO links to TIF reports.
Why are they hiding these slush funds?
I sent emails to the Comptroller’s office advising them of Bloomington’s other TIF districts that didn’t show as past due.
I received the email below from the Comptroller’s Office.
It mentions a “message”, I assume it’s supposed to be in the circle, but there is no message.
If somebody can tell me what this email means, I’d appreciate it.
Meanwhile, if Bloomington and Normal cared about transparency, the TIF reports would be on their websites!
Are the reports past due? All I know is the citizens don’t have them!
Ms. Diane Benjamin,
I am writing in response to an email you sent to our office this afternoon regarding Bloomington and Normal TIF reports that as of this morning were showing as delinquent reports on the Illinois Comptroller’s (IOC) website, “The Warehouse”.
We have made several programming corrections to our website which I need to make you aware of as they correct an inaccurate representation of information on “The Warehouse”. All 2017 TIF reports due to the IOC are currently not in a true delinquent status. To ensure that our TIF reporting application was aligned with statute, the IOC delayed its launch of the TIF reporting application, causing governments to be unable to file reports by their deadline. We made the necessary corrections to the Delinquent Government list that is published separately on “The Warehouse”; however, a programming glitch resulted in the government’s report being displayed as delinquent when searching the specific government. We have since corrected this programming glitch. Searching “The Warehouse” now displays the following message to accurately reflect the status of government TIF reports.
The TIF application will be launching in the near future to allow governments to file their TIF Reports.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.
Best Regards,
Rosanna Barbaro-Flores
Director | Local Government Division
Office of the Comptroller
100 West Randolph Street, Suite 15-500
Chicago, Illinois 60601
Office: 312-814-1070 | Fax: 312-814-3117 | Hotline: 877-304-3899
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Yea, and the front page of today’s Pravdagraph is all about Normal’s proposed property tax increase. Are the missing TIF reports so that we don’t see how they’ve wasted our money and we won’t be so angry when they ask for more?
Everyone should be OUTRAGED every time government show it can’t live within their means!
I am!
😀😀😀
Sure glad we moved everything tax related to Chicago. It has saved wear and tear on our Interstate 55 by not having so many semi’s hauling all that money u[p there.
Rosanna Barbaro-Flores
Director | Local Government Division
Office of the Comptroller
100 West Randolph Street, Suite 15-500
Chicago, Illinois 60601
For the 2nd year in a row, the illinois comptroller office has been late in making their AFR website available to units of government. They asked that governments request a 60 day extension. The website is now available.
It means that they had duties to perform and they did not complete them. You, Diane, asked a question and ruined their year. Now they have to make up excuses and cover their asses for awhile. Nice job! They set up systems that don’t work and do nothing, unless someone asks for information.