By: Diane Benjamin
The majority of the meeting was spent talking about TIF districts. The City of Bloomington currently has two: Empire Corridor which is a massive area along Empire street, and Downtown Southwest. The City is trying to get approval from the other taxing bodies for two more: The old Junior High building area on Washington and one for the North Main property area the City has been sitting on.
I’ve explained TIF’s many times, but ask if you still don’t understand them.
The discussion went on for over an hour and included the lawyer handling TIF’s for Bloomington. The discussion complete with numerous pics begins at 1:04:49.
Dr. Barry Reilly got pretty funny. He claimed District 87 is doing everything they can to save money because finances are tight. He wants the City to use other incentives for economic development instead of TIF’s. He must have forgotten Marc Tiritilli wanted to save them $50,000 and got fired for it. See his comments at 1:48:30.
Another amusing moment was when this slide was shown of the last downtown TIF:
Instead of using the REAL numbers the City reported to the State, they used inflated numbers they claim came from the Township Assessor’s Office.
The TIF reports to the State show a total increase in taxable value of $15,369,595.
This slide shows an increase of $18,977,519
It’s only a difference of $3.6 million. Peanuts.
See the final TIF report HERE
As I asked yesterday, how much of this increase has disappeared along with the exodus of businesses from downtown?
Mike Matejka spoke during public comment. He urged the Council to require use of local labor for any incentives given to developers because of TIF districts. He wants a “project labor agreement” included meaning he probably wants to require prevailing wages paid too. Matejka fails to realize unions in Illinois have priced themselves out of the market while demanding to be protected by government (in exchange for campaign contributions). See his comments at 35:57.
The TIF discussion will be continued in June at a Committee of the Whole meeting.
The chairman of the Police Safety and Community Relations Board also presented what the new Board has been up to. They have received no complains yet, but they have created documents for the community on how to file complaints and operational bylaws. The Council approved what they created. See his comments at 41:10
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Hmm…This is interesting. Why would the Mayor and Council take up the discussion of TIFs if they knew Dr. Reilly would express opposition. Did Tari miscalculate or is he setting us up for a “safer” alternative to a TIF? That way, he can claim the moral high ground on “fiscal responsibility”. Yes, Dr. Reilly is not the end-all-be-all decision maker, but a TIF would now put Tari on the hook politically for any school cutbacks.
The newest TIF on E. Washington Street is destined for low income housing projects potentially increasing the student population.
I for one, am glad there is an effort being made to at least examine the value of TIFs.
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Do these “financial wizards” take into account the increase in value related to inflation? An increase in EVA of $3M over 23 years is peanuts but would probably calculate out as a loss taking into the dollar value in1986 compared to 2009.
How much actual property tax was collected as a result of the increased EVA during the length of that TIF? These numbers are misleading at best. This is typical, just like the calculations for the economic impact of the Arena.
Why would anyone with a lick of common sense listen to a word from “Tax Hike” Mike Matejka? How much more money would Bloomington have to spend on infrastructure if Tax Hike Mike had listened to the voters and not voted to put millions into the pockets of his union cronies with the idiotic Coliseum… or whatever they are calling that white elephant these days? At least a couple million a year! Mike… go to H___!
Mike is not going to Hell, he’s trying to bring Hell to us!
Mike is full of HIMSELF and he REALLY DOES NOT care what all of you THINK about him. He’s smarter then you and an EXPERT in his field, whatever the heck that is..
USE your imagination..
And as for his spewing out labor history, he usually gets that wrong also. He probably wouldn’t know a picture of Boyle in a mug shot line up.. He MIGHT be able to pick out MOther Jones, as SHE’S the one with the WHITE hair.. That’s his forte…
“Local Labor” means Tari’s best buds the Union boys who contribute heavily to his campaign
It has taken the police review board how many taxpayer funded meetings to come up with a form? Sounds like a great polack joke or dumb blonde joke to me
It would seem after watching the meeting that Mike McTeacup was either up past his bedtime, or very tired, or very bored, or all of the above.