By: Diane Benjamin In case you forgot what a TIF is or never knew: Tax Increment Financing is meant to provide money for developers or reimburse government for investments in a blighted area. Money is generated by the increase in property values after the redevelopment. Government gets to keep the increase for 23 years – […]
By: Diane Benjamin Empire Street Corridor 19TIF06402530Empire_StCorridor_1 This TIF had income last year of $388,527 from increasing property values and $7,091 in interest. Total income since the inception in 2016 is $425,624. The theory of TIF’s is development wouldn’t happen unless developers and taxpayers share in the cost. So where did this year’s income go? […]
By: Diane Benjamin CLEAN audits mean nothing! Dixon Illinois got taken for $50,000,000 with CLEAN audits. Forensic Audits find fraud, regular yearly audits only mean the numbers are in the right columns. Thanks Pantagraph for printing what you were told. Why were the Bloomington financial statements released REALLY late? Tonight the Council will hear information […]
By: Diane Benjamin Funny how the Wildwood property was redeveloped without any incentives from government. Probably the only place in Bloomington where capitalism still reigns. (From the Pantagraph story) The huge east-side TIF will get approved. It will create a slush fund for the City to use however it wants – in the TIF district. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Besides everything else I’ve already written about, the Colonial Plaza + TIF District is on the agenda. Here is the report you paid $36,600 for: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=9514 Start on page 244. There is a map of the proposed TIF on page 250. The City of Bloomington wants to claim they have a better […]
By: Diane Benjamin The City of Bloomington is asking interested parties to register for the Empire Street Corridor TIF. http://www.cityblm.org//index.aspx?page=18&recordid=2743 The covered area is MUCH bigger than Colonial Plaza. It goes from Veterans to Colton Ave – the road west of Bloomington High School. The total is 201 acres. You can read how far north […]
