TAX INCREMENT FINANCING (TIF) LAWSUIT RESOURCES
Last month, Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and the national Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights filed a lawsuit on behalf of advocacy groups Raise Your Hand for Illinois Public Education and Grassroots Collaborative challenging the City of Chicago’s Tax Increment Financing (TIF) use in a Lincoln Yards redevelopment plan. Learn about the lawsuit, the basics of TIF, and more below.
Grassroots Collaborative and Raise Your Hand
v. City of Chicago
On April 17, 2019, two community-based organizations represented by Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and the national Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights filed a lawsuit challenging the City of Chicago’s illegal approval of a huge private redevelopment plan for Lincoln Yards using up to $1.3 billion in public tax money generated through Tax Increment Financing (“TIF”). The lawsuit seeks to repeal the creation of the Cortland and Chicago River TIF District, and to force the City to reform its TIF process to be fair, lawful, and nondiscriminatory.
Unfortunately, in 2020 the lawsuit was dismissed by the trial court and the appellate court on legal standing grounds.
Neither court reached the substantive issues raised by this lawsuit: The approval of the Lincoln Yards TIF in the face of questionable evidence of blight and the City’s harmful administration of the TIF program over time, which has contributed to the severe economic inequities on Chicago’s south and west sides and to the city’s continued racial and economic segregation. The plaintiffs will be assessing their legal options following this decision, but regardless of this immediate outcome, they will carry on with their efforts to reform TIF and hold the City accountable.
Public Money Shouldn’t Subsidize Luxury Developments
The Cortland and Chicago River TIF District is located in one of the most attractive riverfront areas of the city, surrounded by Bucktown, Wicker Park, and Lincoln Park - three of the most affluent areas in Chicago.
According to state law, a TIF district can only be created if the area “would not be reasonably anticipated to develop” without the TIF - but, as early as 2013, Sterling Bay began purchasing land in the area which it believed were “underutilized, undervalued and positioned for redevelopment.” And the value of building permits for new construction in the immediate area, which was almost double that of the rest of the city over the past 13 years, clearly contradicts the notion that the area was not ripe for development. See Figure 6.
Our complaint alleges that the area around Lincoln Yards does not meet the definition of “blight” under state law, nor does the area qualify as being dependent on public taxpayer funds to spur economic development, and therefore it violates the state’s law on TIF.
The Cortland and Chicago River TIF is Discriminatory
The population within a half-mile radius of the center of the Cortland and Chicago River TIF District is nearly 80 percent White and is only 12 percent Hispanic and 4 percent African American.
Providing an enormous public subsidy of up to $1.3 billion in a wealthy, majority-White area undermines investment into low-income, majority-African American and majority-Hispanic communities that truly need public dollars to see private development.
The Cortland and Chicago River TIF District will also result in a tax increase for properties outside the TIF District, including among communities of color. This increases the financial burden on those neighborhoods and deepens segregation in Chicago.
Chicago’s TIF System as a Whole is Racially Inequitable
The amount of money that is being spent by the City on TIF Districts is concentrated in areas that are majority-White, such as the Cortland and Chicago River TIF.
By enabling TIF Districts to be created in areas that fail to meet the state’s legal standards, the City not only has violated state law but its administration of the TIF system also has been racially and ethnically discriminatory.
Hundreds of millions of tax dollars collected from taxpayers have disproportionately benefited majority-White census tracts to the detriment of majority-African American and majority-Hispanic census tracts.
Media coverage:
The Battle over TIF Money for Lincoln Yards by Jason Marck | WBEZ Morning Shift
Judge questions whether lawsuit to stop Lincoln Yards taxpayer subsidy can proceed by Hal Dardick | Chicago Tribune | September 11, 2019
Despite city’s ‘rush to judgement’ on Lincoln Yards, judge says lawsuit to block tax subsidy might not fly by Alex Nitkin and Hannah Alani | Block Club Chicago | September 12, 2019
Despite city’s ‘rush to judgement’ on Lincoln Yards, judge says lawsuit to block tax subsidy might not fly by Alex Nitkin and Hannah Alani | The Daily Line | September 12, 2019
Judge critiques lawsuit challenging $1.3 billion TIF for Lincoln Yards by David Roeder| Chicago Sun-Times | September 11, 2019
Judge on Lincoln Yards TIF: ‘A Deal is a Deal’ by Danny Ecker| Crain’s Chicago Business | September 11, 2019
The race to beat the clock on Lincoln Yards: How a delay could have stopped the megadevelopment from getting $1.3 billion in taxpayer money by Hal Dardick | Chicago Tribune | August 26, 2019
Editorial: TIFS were abused. Time for a new approach to city investment. by Chicago Tribune Editorial Board | Chicago Tribune | June 24, 2019
Group wants to block work on Lincoln Yards project by Stefano Esposito | June 20, 2019
Injunction filed against Lincoln Yards development WGN | June 20, 2019
Lincoln Yards opponents ramping up fight by John O’Brien | The Real Deal | June 20, 2019
WBEZ-FM Radio Broadcast Clip | June 21, 2019
WBBM-AM Radio Broadcast Clip | June 21, 2019
CLTV Politics Tonight Broadcast Clip | June 20, 2019
NBC 5 Today Broadcast Clip | June 21, 2019
WTTW Chicago Tonight Clip | June 21, 2019
Grassroots Groups ask injunction against Chicago River development by Ted Cox | One Illinois | June 21, 2019
Lincoln Yards opponents ask judge to stop city from spending any money on the megaproject by Hal Dardick and Ryan Ori | Chicago Tribune | June 20, 2019
Chicago’s TIF policies keep racial inequities locked into place by Amisha Patel | Crain’s Chicago Business | June 18, 2019
This Lawsuit Is Putting a Racial Equity Lens on Economic Development Incentives by Oscar Perry Abello | Next City | May 23, 2019
Chicago Newsroom 4/25/2019 with Ken Davis | CAN TV | April 25, 2019
Where will the jobs go? Next chapter in Lincoln Yards saga offers few answers by Curtis Black | Chicago Reporter | April 25, 2019
Subsidies Meant for Low-Income Communities are Paying for Luxury Developments by Sophie Kasakove | Pacific Standard | April 24, 2019
Chicago Activists Sue City Hall Over Lincoln Yards TIF by Claudia Morell | WBEZ | April 17, 2019
Activists sue over Lincoln Yards TIF by Danny Ecker | Crain’s Chicago Business | April 17, 2019
Lawsuit Says $1.3 Billion Lincoln Yards Tax Subsidy Benefits Mostly-White Areas | CBS Chicago | April 17, 2019
Community groups file lawsuit to stop Lincoln Yards project by Susan Rivera | WGN TV | April 17, 2019
Local Organizations To Sue City Over Lincoln Yards Funding Deal by Amber Fisher | Patch | April 17, 2019
Lawsuit seeks to block use of up to $1.3 billion in public money on Lincoln Yards project by John Byrne | Chicago Tribune | April 17, 2019
Lawsuit filed to block $900 million subsidy for Lincoln Yards by Fran Spielman | Chicago Sun-Times | April 17, 2019
Buscan demandar a la ciudad de Chicago por subsidio al desarrollo de Lincoln Yards por Sebastián González De León | Univision | April 17, 2019
Community Groups Sue City To Block $900 Million Lincoln Yards TIF by Heather Cherone | Block Club Chicago | April 16, 2019