An Entitlement Program for Rogers Park Landlords: How Will the 49th Ward RIF Benefit Property Owners and Help Solve Chicago's Financial Problems

Follow the link to the fact sheet for the proposed 49th Ward Rental Improvement Fund, the TIF that will cover the entire 49th Ward, and divert up to $54 Million in property taxes paid in the ward to landlords in the area to rehabilitate their properties, on the condition that they reserve a percentage of their units for low-income tenants.

Many people believe that this plan is an "improved" TIF, but the closer I look at this plan, the more difficult I find it to believe that it will benefit anyone other than owners of rental properties who are to receive the grants. 

The RIF (Rental Improvement Fund), a variation on a traditional TIF created to improve rental property, is being promoted by Marilyn Pagan-Banks of North Side P.O.W.E.R. and 49th Ward candidate for Alderman, Brian White. The RIF is projected to generate up to $54 Million over its 23-year lifespan, which is to assist (i.e. subsidize) more than 1,500 rental property owners in the ward in repairing and rehabilitating their properties on the condition that they keep their rentals affordable.

According to the promoters, we need the RIF to "improve the quality of life for all Rogers Park residents by preserving the unique diversity of Rogers Park as a community of choice", to "address the current situation- that much of the housing stock in Rogers Park is aged and could be improved with rehabilitation-while creating a future source of dedicated revenue for continued housing market stabilization and improvement"; and "Protect many of the smaller landlords who may be compelled to exist the rental market or raise rents to unaffordable levels, due to the costs to make repairs." 

The RIF will exist "solely to fund multifamily rental property repair and rehabilitation", and funding would be available to landlords in the form of grants, in return for which the landlord would agree to keep rents affordable, as defined in the guidelines, for ten years.

Taxpayers should have a lot of questions to ask about a plan that will take an "increment" of local property taxes amounting to as much as $54 Million over the next 23 years to subsidize some property owners to improve their properties while maintain rents at reduced levels. For starters,  the grants will be offset by additional property taxes to make up for taxes being diverted away from essential city services, which means that the rents in the area will trend higher and there will be no net gain for the renters on properties that benefit from these grants.

And does Rogers Park really need more cheap housing, in an era of falling house and condo prices, and downward pressure on rentals as failed condo conversions revert to rental?

Will this TIF overlap some of the areas covered by the Loyola-Devon TIF, which still has several years to run? What effect will being in two TIF districts have on the taxes for affected properties? Will it matter? 

But the most important questions are these: What gives a public agency the right to to divert public money to private property owners, whether for the benefit of renters or anyone else? And how is "continuing housing stabilization" the function of a government?

Will the RIF do more to aggravate blight than mitigate it? 

Worse, could it be that the RIF will make lower-income renters worse off, not better, and that they will end up paying more rent, not less? Will the RIF be just another factor in driving up property taxes, and rents, thus not only canceling the benefits to landlords and tenants, while increasing the load on all property owners?

Most of all, how will Chicago solve its financial problems and continue to provide essential civil services such as police and fire protection, public transportation, schools, as well as desirable amenities that make the city an attractive place to live and work, and still keep taxes at levels where Chicago can compete with other cities for businesses and residents, if we continue to divert hundreds of millions of dollars in the aggregate of all the city's 160-plus TIF districts, not to mention a multitude of other massive subsidies named differently, from city coffers to private purposes?

None of our candidates for the alderman in the 49th have addressed the city's mounting financial problems, which mirror those of the state of Illinois, now one of the most financially challenged states in the country. Much less do they seem concerned with how we will be able to fund essential services, and critical infrastructure repairs and improvements in the coming era of rising fuel prices and increasing shortages, and falling tax revenues due to the continued shrinkage of our tax base and the deteriorating incomes of the population.

Two public meetings concerning the RIF have been held so far, with only a day's notice given for each, resulting in low attendance for each. The first I attended, at which Tom Tresser spoke, had only a sprinkling of attendees. It would be beneficial and only appropriate to have another meeting for the public with more publicity and advance notice, and attended by our candidates for Alderman, Joe Moore and Brian White, especially since the latter is one of its promoters; as well as Marilyn Pagan-Banks, and the members of the ZULAC zoning committee. The public is entitled to a more solidly grounded justification for yet another massive diversion of public money for private purposes.

Community Meeting: Proposed New Restaurant and Bar at 1412 W. Morse

Wednesday, January 13, at 7:00 PM
United Church, third floor
1545 W. Morse (Morse & Ashland Aves.)
Chicago, IL 60626


The office of the 49th Ward Alderman, Joe Moore, will conduct a community meeting on a proposal to open a restaurant and bar at the new condo building at 1412 W. Morse. According to an email announcement from the alderman's office,the owner of the building , Alex Samrdzija, will be the proprietor of the proposed new business, which he says will be similar to Xippo, a restaurant and bar that Mr. Samrdzija owns in Lincoln Square at 3759 N Damen.

A zoning change, from the current B3.3, to C1.3, will be required and a special use permit will also be required for 7 additional off-site parking spaces.

Couldn't Happen to Nicer People: ACORN Loses its Federal Funding

Both Congress and the Senate voted overwhelmingly to strip the community activist group, ACORN, of its federal funding amidst allegations that the group counseled its clients on how to commit tax fraud and other crimes. Last week 11 ACORN workers in Florida were charged with submitting fraudulent voter registration papers, and most disturbing of all, ACORN workers are alleged to have aided in human traffic, including the recruiting of underage girls into prostitution.

Many of us here in the 49th Ward of Chicago remember the role this unsavory group played in the hotly contested city election of 2007. ACORN activists worked to help re-elect the incumbent alderman, Joe Moore, and distributed "attack" fliers that slandered and vilified his opponent's supporters, including myself.

It's rather a shame, really. ACORN started out in the 70s as a grass-roots activist group whose mission was to help lower utility rates and provide affordable housing for the poor. Since that time, the group has degenerated into a blatantly political action group that advocates for favored candidates and engages in questionable and perhaps illegal practices on behalf of people who distinctly aren't poor or disadvantaged.

Multiple Ironies

I shouldn’t have taken the bait that Craig tossed out in some of his more bizarre recent rants on the Hellhole, regarding an attack by a scuzzy local resident on a young soldier, by vandalizing his car. His ravings are seconded on The Rogers Park Bench, and both bloggers are using the random crime of a sleazy and somewhat skewed local lawyer to discredit all opposition to an increasingly unpopular and costly war, and to attack the local AlderCreature, while unwittingly exposing the multiple ironies of the "conservative" position regarding the Iraqi War and our armed forces.

It seems like a rather disreputable local lawyer, Jay Grobner, vandalized the automobile belonging to U. S. Marine Sergeant Mike McNulty, by way of expressing his opposition to the Iraqi War and his antipathy to the military.

By employing an inscrutably tangled chain of rationalization involving connecting unrelated coincidences, as well as the usual ad hominem attacks, our intrepid local bloggers have arrived at the conclusion that our little AlderCreature, Joe Moore, must bear direct responsibility for the crime. It seems that since Joe is opposed to the Iraqi War, and since Joe is also "in control" of the ward in which Grobner resides, that means that Joe is personally responsible for the attack on Sgt. McNulty.

It seems to me that our little alderman offers ample enough opportunities to all comers simply by way of his day-to-day ineptitude, corruption, and neglect of his duties, without resorting to incredibly twisted, irrational, and childish arguments that wouldn't make it in a grade-school debate contest.

You could just as easily say that since Tim McVeigh was a supporter of Second Amendment rights, a declared "patriot", and was a highly decorated veteran of the U. S. Army, that anyone who supports the military and/or Second Amendment rights is an anti-government terrorist who supports blowing up government buildings containing hundreds of innocent people. Tim McVeigh was also a racist whose favorite novel was The Turner Diaries. Does that mean that anyone who favors gun ownership and supports the police and military is a racist stockpiling weaponry and explosives while eagerly awaiting "the Day of the Rope?"

You could also say that since Hillary Clinton, the pet punching bag of the Right Wing, is a supporter of the war and is also a supporter of resolutions that may lead to more war, that anyone who supports the war must also support her in her other, rather strange, beliefs.

You don’t have to be a supporter of this war to support our servicemen, or to be sickened by an act of malicious vandalism perpetrated on a person by virtue of his beliefs and/or station in life.

However, if you truly support our servicemen and care what becomes of them after they return from the field with crippling injuries and permanent disabilities, you might want to review, and revise, your own opinion and treatment of a population that seems one of fave bette noirs of the local middle class, the homeless denizens of North Coast neighborhoods who sleep in the parks and panhandle on the streets.

According to the National Survey of Homeless Assistance Providers and Clients, fully 23% of all homeless people, and 33% of homeless men, are military combat veterans. I have personally met many of these guys in my travels through American cities, and it has ever been a source of bile to me that it is possible for a wounded veteran to be left to fend for himself on the streets no matter how disabling his injuries and war-related illness. If ever a group of people deserved to be given permanent government assistance, this is it. There should be no possibility that a man (or woman), who was disabled while fighting for this country, will end up living on the streets.

Yet it is the very people who claim to be the most loyal of our military’s supporters, namely our Republican Right Wing, who are least disposed to offer these hapless people the support they are entitled to when they arrive home wounded and permanently disabled. We love our soldiers when they're in their dress uniforms, and full of eagerness and dedication, but when they return from the battlefield with multiple crippling injuries, including missing limbs, disease, and serious mental health issues, we tell them to fuck off and go crawl into a hole to die.

So rather than continue to support a suicidal war that is bankrupting us and killing thousands of young, lower-class American men bereft of any other opportunity in life but membership in the military, let's show real support for our soldiers by insisting that our officials provide our disabled vets with the financial support and medical care that they deserve. This isn't "welfare", folks- these people earned our support.

Don Gordon Meeting at Lamp Post Tavern

Citizens to Elect Don Gordon invites West Ridge, St. Margaret Mary, and 49th Ward residents to join them to watch WTTW Channel 11 " Chicago Tonight" on 49th Ward Aldermanic Candidates at 7P.M.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 19, from 6:30 PM -9 PM
LAMP POST TAVERN
7126 N. RIDGE BLVD.
Beer Special & Free Pizza

This is an opportunity for residents of the West Ridge area to discuss local concerns such as home teardowns, condo development, ward service requests, commercial development, and other neighborhood issues with Don Gordon and local campaign leaders.

Donations are welcomed. RSVP at www.dongordon.org/events/rsvp.html, or call Citizens to Elect Don Gordon at 312-262-9473.