But at least it’s good news: what’s become widely known as the TIF Sunshine Ordinance will almost certainly pass the full council tomorrow. It will mandate that the city’s Department of Community Development post extensive documentation about the creation and use of tax increment financing funds, from details about expenditures to records of city oversight, assuming those documents exist.
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Several went so far as to declare that this should be the start of a much broader conversation. Alderman Richard Mell, alternately an apologist for the rubber stamp City Council and an impassioned spokesman for the worker, asked a Community Development official to put together some data for him on how much TIF money is being spent on school construction instead of the economic development the program is designed for (never mind that TIFs actually take tax money from the schools in the first place). And Flores and Waguespack vowed that this was just their first push for greater transparency in the budget process and lease agreements—a recurring theme of late.
