PILSEN – Pilsen neighbors resoundingly voted in opposition to a controversial proposal to increase its tax-increment financing district to the entire neighborhood, in keeping with the outcomes of a survey held by the native alderman’s workplace final yr.
About 80 p.c of responding neighbors within the twenty fifth Ward — or 1,441 votes — have been in opposition to increasing Pilsen’s TIF, in keeping with outcomes posted on the twenty fifth Ward Workplace’s web site earlier this week. Solely 383 votes have been in favor of increasing the TIF, outcomes present.
The TIF proposal uncovered deep divisions amongst neighbors, with some worrying an expanded TIF in Pilsen would result in extra gentrification and longtime households will likely be pushed out, and supporters saying the measure would assist owners keep within the neighborhood.
Ald. Byron Sigcho Lopez’s twenty fifth Ward workplace launched an internet survey and mailed ballots to neighbors final September, asking them to vote on the proposal earlier than the Metropolis Council’s vote. About 9,600 booklets with a QR code for a digital survey and a paper poll have been despatched out, the alderman’s workplace mentioned on the time.
After the vote was delayed in Metropolis Council twice, Sigcho Lopez mentioned it could probably not be voted on till this yr. On the time, Sigcho Lopez mentioned his workplace had acquired 1,397 neighbors’ signatures from on-line and in-person petitions, however he didn’t say how neighbors voted.
Neighbors who opposed the growth spent months calling for a choice and asking to see the survey’s outcomes, however it wasn’t till this week that these have been made public.
Javier Ruiz, a Pilsen neighbor and organizer with Pilsen Alliance, mentioned he was glad to lastly see the survey’s outcomes, which seem to point out the TIF growth won’t ahead.
The outcomes present what nearly all of neighbors, lots of whom volunteered and campaigned in opposition to the TIF growth, need, Ruiz mentioned.
At a June neighborhood assembly, Lucia Moya Calderon, chief of employees for the twenty fifth Ward workplace, mentioned the proposal to increase the TIF to your complete neighborhood “was not favorable” because it didn’t go final fall.
Pilsen’s present TIF district — created in 1998 — extends primarily alongside Blue Island Avenue from Western Avenue to Cermak Street, then to Canal Avenue, encompassing industrial properties alongside the river, in addition to some residential areas.
The district was set to run out in 2022, however then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Sigcho-Lopez prolonged it till 2034. As of 2023, it generated about $396 million, together with $41.9 million in 2023 alone, in keeping with metropolis reviews.
Whereas the controversial proposal to increase Pilsen’s TIF seems to be useless, Pilsen nonetheless has a tax-increment financing district spanning its industrial hall.
Half of the TIF district spans the twenty fifth Ward, whereas the opposite half is break up between the eleventh and twelfth wards, in keeping with metropolis data.
Earlier this summer time, the twenty fifth Ward Workplace hosted the primary conferences to create a Pilsen TIF assessment committee that might present pointers on how you can use the income generated by the prevailing TIF, Moya Calderon mentioned on the time.
The committee continues to be being shaped, with the twenty fifth Ward Workplace internet hosting month-to-month conferences for neighbors to weigh in. It’s unclear how it could work with the eleventh and twelfth wards or how a committee might have decision-making energy given town’s guidelines round how TIF cash may be spent.
These discussions, nevertheless, sign Sigcho Lopez is transferring away from increasing the TIF, Ruiz mentioned.
“It’s a victory for the neighborhood,” Ruiz mentioned.
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