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But just to clarify one point with TIFs: they don’t work quite the way the article says. “TIFs are Mayor Richard Daley’s favorite tool to spur development by cutting taxes for developers, business owners and other beneficiaries. In essence, taxes on a specified neighborhood are frozen for more than 20 years, saving developers and property owners millions of dollars as the properties increase in value.”
Yes, TIFs do freeze the property taxes in a TIF district for up to 24 years. But don’t be fooled into thinking they freeze the amount that property owners pay. Far from it. What gets frozen is the amount of property tax dollars the schools, parks, county, and other taxing bodies get out of the TIF district. If the taxing bodies are getting $100 from the district when the TIF’s created, that’s all they’ll get until the TIF expires.
