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SUBSTITUTE ORDINANCE
WHEREAS, The City of Chicago has created Tax Increment Financing (T.I.F.) districts in various communities to finance economic development projects with the intent to improve the local economy, create jobs, and spur property value growth across Chicago; and
WHEREAS, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has made government transparency a priority of his administration and as a result, T.I.F. eligibility studies, redevelopment plans, maps, and other documents related to T.I.F. districts are available on the City of Chicago's website and data portal; and
WHEREAS, Mayor Emanuel's T.I.F. Reform report outlines specific steps to increase transparency by making data and project performance data available; and
WHEREAS, the public benefit of T.I.F dollars for a public infrastructure project is much easier to assess than T.I.F expenditures for private entities; and
WHEREAS, while the Chicago Data Portal lists expenditures by T.I.F. district, the City must do more to make project performance data related to private projects available in order to weigh the T.I.F. outlay against the public benefit; and
WHEREAS, information about the total dollar amount ofthe T.I.F. subsidy, jobs promised, jobs Delivered and other performance metrics are currently available online in various documents but this information should be aggregated into a single centralized and searchable database on the City of Chicago Data Portal; and now, therefore,
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF CHICAGO:
Section 1. Chapter 2-45-155 of the Chicago Municipal Code be amended by adding the new underlined language below:
2-45-155 Tax increment financing (T.I.F.) Sunshine ordinance.
The following T.I.F.-related documents for each active T.I.F. district shall be made publicly available on the City of Chicago, Department of Housing and Economic Development website:
The ordinances establishing each T.I.F. district, including all attachments, and any amendments thereto;
The ordinances authorizing eac...
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