Chicago goes to the legislature for transit value capture

Flickr user John W. Iwanski (CC)

News is bouncing around the interwebs that there may be a new transit value capture mechanism enabled in Illinois. Well, it's not exactly new for Chicago to establish TIFs! TIF districts are a common tool and much maligned in Chicago. This time, the TIFs will be transit specific.

The Chicago-focused Metropolitan Planning Council is lobbying for SB277, a bill in the Illinois General Assembly. As they explain it, the bill would allow the City of Chicago to justify the establishment of a TIF district specifically because it's near transit. The accumulated incremental tax revenues would help fund transit capital improvements in the districts. Let's see how it plays out!

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