Cook County TIF revenues smash records, squeeze taxpayers – Crain’s*

Cook County’s nearly 450 tax-increment financing (TIF) districts reaped a record $1.6 billion from property taxpayers last year. The TIF program lets cities freeze the level of property taxes that are delivered to local governments within specific areas, and divert all new tax growth into special funds that city administrators can tap for construction projects in those areas for 23 years. Designed to kick-start private development in struggling neighborhoods, the tool has drawn increasing criticism for siphoning hundreds of millions of dollars to fast-growing areas already attractive to developers, forcing school districts and other local governments to hike taxes to balance their budgets.