This Lawsuit Is Putting a Racial Equity Lens on Economic Development Incentives
“Found in many cities as a tool meant for revitalizing disinvested neighborhoods, TIF programs take a portion of property taxes from a specific geographic area and use them to subsidize projects within that area. But Grassroots Collaborative and allies argue that may of the projects that have gotten TIF subsidies over the years in Chicago have benefited mostly white, wealthy neighborhoods, not the underserved communities TIF is meant to help. As a coalition of 11 organizations across Illinois, Grassroots Collaborative has been organizing for more than a decade around what they view as Chicago’s abuse of TIF. Last year’s $1.3 billion TIF approval for the Lincoln Yards project, located in a wealthy neighborhood near downtown, was the final straw. In April 2019, Grassroots Collaborative joined as co-plaintiff on the first lawsuit it’s ever filed, against the city and what they allege as its misuse of TIF.”