With no fanfare whatsoever, last month populist Joe Moore brought $39,735,000 in bacon back to Rogers Park. Was it to build a Park District field house in an under-served community, or to staff it? No, it was a public, property tax subsidy to a closely-held, private corporation.
DESIGNATION OF S & C ELECTRIC COMPANY AS PROJECT DEVELOPER AND AUTHORIZATION FOR EXECUTION OF REDEVELOPMENT AGREMENT FOR THE REHABILITATION AND RENOVATION BUILDINGS AT 6601 N RIDGE BOULEVARD
The so-called "Pratt/Ridge" TIF (tax increment financing district) is a very unusual TIF in that the boundaries of the TIF district correspond exactly to the property line of ONE private property owner, S&C Electric!
Our City Fathers declared this property blighted in June, 2004. But now, thanks to the Miracle of TIF, our Village Elders have managed to attract the interest of an investor to this blighted area: well, son of a gun, what do you know, it's none other than S&C Electric!
Buried in the fine print of the agreement is a section entitled "Public Benefits Program:"
8.18 ~Public Benefits Program.And buried in the twelfth attachment:
Prior to the Closing Date, Developer, either directly or through its charitable foundation, has made contributions to those organizations in the amounts listed in Exhibit L ("Pubtic Benefits Program") described in more detail in Exhibit L. Developer will provide the City with proof of Developer's compliance with the Public Benefits Program.
(Sub) Exhibit "L"
(To S&C Electric Company Redevelopment Agreement)
Public Benefits Program.
In addition to the Developer's on-going program of charitable contributions, at or prior to closing, the S&C Foundation shall provide a gift of not less than Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000) to Misericordia Heart of Mercy toward the construction of additional on-campus residences.
So there you have it. The $39,735,000 in public money awarded by the City to S&C comes from the property tax payers of Cook County via the TIF trick, and, fellow homeowners, in case you were wondering, what's in it for us? It's fifty large worth of new housing at Misericordia.
At the point where a legally-binding condition of a $39,735,000 property tax subsidy to S&C is S&C making a mandatory, tax-deductible contribution to Misericordia, it's an awful lot like we taxpayers gave $50,000 to Misericordia and $39,685,000 to S&C.
Now, we could talk about the separation of church and state. Or we could talk about what a wonderful, worthy organization Misericordia is. But if Our Village Wise Men wanted to make a brave stand in favor of public subsidies for faith-based initiatives, why bury it in a several hundred page legal agreement with an industrialist? Why not hold public hearings on Misericordia, invite the good sisters and the happy residents and their grateful families to testify, invite the press, and develop community consensus that this is exactly what we as a community want to do with our scarce resources?
Charitable giving of this magnitude is the sign of someone who is flush. Just 8 months earlier, Our Fearless Leaders in City Hall imposed on Chicago homeowners the largest property tax increase in the history of Chicago.
For some strange reason, all mention of Moore's multi-million dollar triumph in bringing home the bacon was conspicuously absent from his website, his less-than-useless "City Council Reports," and his profuse e-mail blasts.
Oh, by the way, of course you knew, as another aspect of S&C's "on-going program of charitable contributions," S&C is a major underwriter of the incumbency of Joe Moore. It's like clockwork.
The Official Corporate Sponsor © of Alderman Joe Moore:
S & C Electric
S & C Electric to Citizens for Joe Moore
$1,500.00 4/5/2007
$2,000.00 11/6/2006
$2,000.00 11/6/2006 (yes, not a typo, 2 contributions of 2 large on the same day)
$2,500.00 on 12/13/2005
$2,500.00 on 1/21/2005
$2,500.00 on 1/28/2004
$2,500.00 on 7/31/2003
$2,500.00 on 1/23/2003
$2,500.00 on 5/23/2002
$2,500.00 on 1/31/2001
$2,500.00 on 3/3/2000
John R. Conrad, Chairman of the Board, S & C Electric
505 N Lake Shore Drive (in the 42nd Ward!)
to Citizens for Joe Moore
$1,000.00 on 11/10/1999
A corporation gets $40M. Misericordia gets $50K. Joe Moore gets $25K. Rogers Park gets Joe Moore. North of Howard gets a field house with no staff.
35 comments:
$25K in campaign contributions. I call that a hint of possible influence.
Responsible people take steps to retain a major employer for Rogers Park and the City of Chicago - and this is all you see in it, Craig? You're the post child for missing the point.
The S&C deal appears to be a good uee of TIF funds. As usual, though, anything that benefits Rogers Park is just a pretext for you to take cheap shots and pander to know-nothings.
Just $50K for Misericordia? Don't get me wrong, I have no beef with S&C Electric. They're a huge employer and render many positive benefits to the community, but Misericordia literally restores and reclaims the lives of the severely disabled. I think they deserve more than just the equivalent of one salary credit.
Thank goodness you uncover these things for what they truly are and bring it to our attention - thanks!!
Joe, this is Hugh's blog post and opinion piece. Not mine.
It's posted on your blog, Craig, and I don't see you disagreeing with it or adding any perspective, only piling on in the first comment.
Moore betrays his priorities through his actions
1. re-election of himself
2. corporate welfare for campaign contributors
3. private, religious not-for-profits not in his ward
...
9999999999999999999999. the north of Howard community
Blogs aren't bias-free. Everyone knows that. But maybe a reporter might pick this up. It's not like the topic of TIFS and Chicago clout will stop being of interest to readers and editorial boards of major papers.
how did corporate welfare and Misericordia percolate to the top of our community's priority list?
No doubt Misericordia families are feeling extremely grateful to Moore lately
But let's take a closer look at from where Moore's generosity comes
$26,358.47 was taken from the operating budget of the Chicago Public Schools
$9,638.86 was taken from the operating budget of the City of Chicago
$4,455.78 was taken from the operating funds of Cook County, including our County Health system
$3,519.48 was taken from the operating funds of the Chicago Park District
$752.38 was taken from the operating budget of the Chicago Public Library system
$501.59 was taken from the operating budget of the Forest Preserve System of Cook County
No doubt the officers of S&C are feeling extremely grateful to Moore lately
But let's take a closer look at from where Moore's generosity comes
$20,947,074.90 was taken from the operating budget of the Chicago Public Schools
$7,659,999.16 was taken from the operating budget of the City of Chicago
$3,541,005.68 was taken from the operating funds of Cook County, including our County Health system
$2,796,929.44 was taken from the operating funds of the Chicago Park District
$597,918.41 was taken from the operating budget of the Chicago Public Library system
$398,612.27 was taken from the operating budget of the Forest Preserve System of Cook County
"joe" and others seem to miss the point that if you are using taxpayers money to subsidize employers by means of TIF districts, you are losing the benefit of even having them.
The Corporate Welfare State needs to be unwound, so that new companies and new industries that can be truly productive in a rapidly changing landscape, can emerge.
Subsidizing choice businesses is NOT Market Capitalism. It is NOT Free Enterprise. And it does not reward productive companies as a truely free economy does. It punishes productive businesses that pay the taxes that subsidize these companies, while rewarding companies that are clearly uncompetitive without the assistance.
And Misercordia is an extremely worthy charity, and one that I like to contribute to, but it is one of many private charities that do good, necessary work, and should be supported by private contributions. Why does not the Catholic Church directly support this charity? And why should the taxpayers step in where the Church defaults? The public money properly should be spent on the public schools, and on the disabled who are not served by charities.
There are too many private entities that have a claim on public money, and there has to be a limit to these claims. The oppressive property taxes, that fall most heavily on unaffluent home and business owners, are doing enough damage to poor and moderate income individuals to exceed the good done by recipient charities.
Most moderate-income people are interested in helping the disabled and other unfortunate people, but their ability to be generous is vastly reduced when they end up homeless because of the property tax load in combination with rapidly escalating food and utility costs.
Where's the highly touted TRANSPARENCY JOE? Was S&C planning on moving out of the city? What is the TIF money going to be used for?
Has anyone here ever owned or run a business on any scale, or even met and talked to anyone who has, or represented them as an attorney or accountant? I didn't think so.
S&C, in effect, got a loan from the city to improve and rebuild its facilities, and will (probably) pay that loan back in the form of increased property taxes over the years. Look around you - lots of suburbs and cities throughout the country are continually waving incentives at major employers like S&C.
What seems to go on here is reflexive, know-nothing business bashing by people who have little or no understanding of what it takes to provide their paychecks or make the world they live in function, and even less interest in learning. Not all, of course - some just want to bash the alderman.
"S&C, in effect, got a loan from the city ... "
it's not a loan
" ... to retain a major employer ... "
was S&C going somewhere?
Joe said...> "S&C, in effect, got a loan from the city to improve and rebuild its facilities"
"in effect"? What's "in effect" mean?
Have them go to the bank and take a loan out like I would if I want to improve my business.
Joe said...> "Has anyone here ever owned or run a business on any scale, or even met and talked to anyone who has, or represented them as an attorney or accountant?"
Sure I do, Joe. But I don't spend the tax payers money doing it.
Joe Moore does nothing for the people of his ward that don't contribute large sums of money to his re-election campaign. Oh wait, I forgot he works for those tenants in subsidized housing. He reminds them every election without him they will lose their homes.
Say, that sounds not nice! Are you saying Joe Moore would do something not nice?!? I can't believe that! Say it's not so Hugh!!!!!!!!!!!
Gee whiz, anyone ever notice how much empty commercial space and commercial space that IS filled with shitty dollar stores and 'grocery' stores that probably can't pass a health inspection there are around here? If you're concerned about the quality of the neighborhood, let's focus there, shall we?
Communities develop and grow on incentives. What do you think brought them into, oh say, Andersonville and Lincoln Square? See many upscale shops and gourmet cafes around?
S&C is a neighborhood anchor, a responsible company and provides jobs in a crap economy. What if not getting the loan resulted in loss of jobs? ALL businesses contribute to local officials. This is not some blatant payoff for favors like some of the seemingly moronic residential developers and S&C was here LONG before Moore and will be here (hopefully) LONG after he's gone.
You have a beef with a donation to MISERICORDIA? You have GOT to be kidding. Whatsmore, it's a safe bet that S&C contributes to them anyway.
I'm sorry, I hate Moore as much as anybody, but this is asinine.
What I meant by "in effect" ought to be clear - that's one way to look at the economics of this deal. You need a more sophisticated approach to undertanding this than the sixth-grader's "taxpayer's money" one.
I realize you've run a business, Craig, but note my qualifier: "on any scale." Your gross annual revenues probably wouldn't meet S&C's weekly payroll. As an aside, I knew your dad and Dan DiLeo also from the days when your business was across the street from mine.
when communities offer incentives to draw businesses it is because they can't attract the business otherwise.
tif's and other tax incentives for private companies is just another form of government screwing over the lives of private citizens. if government stopped wasting our dollars and stopped the sweet heart deals, they could cut taxes, which "in effect" help businesses and every citizens wallet.
s&c needs money but they contribute $25k to joe moore?
What Patricia said. Specifically:
You have a beef with a donation to MISERICORDIA? You have GOT to be kidding. Whatsmore, it's a safe bet that S&C contributes to them anyway.
I'm sorry, I hate Moore as much as anybody, but this is asinine.
If you're going to grind an axe against a good organization like Mis, pack your shit and gtfo.
They undoubtedly contribute money to Moore whether they need a loan or not and have for years. And Orr before Moore. And whoever follows Moore after our emancipation. Sheesh.
And let's make this VERY clear: there are many areas close to here that are far more attractive to good businesses (because of the crappy existing businesses and crime in commercial areas--hello?) than here AND they're offering incentives as well. The taxes NOT being paid on empty commercial sites effect yours. The empty spaces being invitations to crack and whore houses effect your house. Incentives for legit businesses is not BAD for the community, it's GOOD for the community. Repeat that three times. Followed up by I Cannot Feed My Kids Beer and Lottery Tickets, as we seem to have a shortage of supermarkets around here that don't smell like last week's dead goat.
It differs, however, from the rezoning, fucking up the landscape, trashing the history of the community and screwing up affordable housing shenanigans that our esteemed alderman is notorious for, so don't even bother to compare.
Keep the beef where it belongs; there's plenty of room for it.
But Patricia -- it's not a LOAN -- it's a handout. And Joe Moore -- Mr. Transparency -- likes to hold his dog and pony, er community meetings to discuss TIF handouts, as he recently did with the application to upgrade the facade of the Village North building. Why didn't JoMo hold a meeting about the S&C TIF spending? The hypocrisy of the backroom dealing is disgusting.
sheesh,
they give contributions to whoever the alderman is in power. why is it normal for companies or persons to give and give to political figures on a regular basis? it is a waste of money unless you expect saomething in return?
sheesh!
Dear "joe",
YES, I have been in business for myself before, and no one bailed me out of my business errors. And when I went bankrupt, no one bailed me out.
I now work as 3rd in command at a small financial concern that is NOT helped by the 160 or so TIF districts in this city, but is bound by a massive structure of regulation that it's my job to make sure are met. Failure to abide by these rules results in fines that can easily bankrupt our little business. We could easily flounder in the next couple of years, and the property taxes on our building are more than my boss can hope to collect in rent on the two spare spaces. Thus, he must charge these two other struggling little businesses for taxes over and above the rent, at a time when they are barely meeting their own expenses as it is.
YES, I talk to many, many business owners, of businesses of many size, many of whom have departed Chicago because of the taxation and obstruction.
Most of my friends are either current, or former, business owners. They are not being helped by having to operate in a climate where you have to buy politicians to be allowed to operate at all, while your excessive taxes go to subsidize your competition that is politically plugged in.
You need to know that every business that is subsidized by public money means three others that will flounder because of the excessive taxation, to provide these subsidies.
We are in a very challenging business climate right now, and almost every business is seeing its profits dwindle, just as individual consumers are up against rapidly rising fuel and food costs.
None of us among the unsubsidized, whether a business entity confronting shrinking revenues and increasing costs, or individual citizens struggling with mounting food and fuel costs along with stagnating wages or unemployment, can afford to pay more taxes to subsidize someone's private enterprise.
I'm personally glad to have S&C Electric in the neighborhood, but I am not employed there, and I don't own a stake in it. Why should the taxes that are needed to support basic civil services be diverted to this private enterprise? Why should it not live or die by the judgment and talent of it's owners, for whose benefit it exists to begin with, like any other honest business?
It would be far better to reduce property and corporate taxes across the board and unwind the laws and regulations that obstruct business unnecessarily; and thereby create a climate favorable for ALL honest business enterprises, than to "choose winners" and thereby contribute to the destruction of other businesses that don't enjoy political access.
"ALL businesses contribute to local officials."
not true
"What if not getting the loan resulted in loss of jobs?"
it's not a loan
what if?
was S&C going somewhere?
"This is not some blatant payoff for favors ... "
HA HA HA HA!
"You need a more sophisticated approach to undertanding this ... "
gosh, if only I could be a sophisti-cat!
then I would understand that money does in fact grow on trees
that TIFs are free money
that TIF doesn't raise taxes
that TIFs don't cost anyone a dime
"You have a beef with a donation to MISERICORDIA? You have GOT to be kidding."
sophisticated would be understanding that there is a distinction between an organization and the PROCESS by which public funds were allocated to that organization
please sir may I have some more of the delicious TIF kool-aid?
Uh huh.
Bitch about the money and FAVORS allotted to so called developers who then get foreclosed and leave the community stuck with the mess. It's a TIF and won't even be allotted if it's not used.
S & C is a business that is an asset to this community. It also has offshore plants that it could very easily expand and move all of its operations to, thereby leaving hundreds unemployed in this area and yet ANOTHER giant hole for this community to contend with.
There is NO LOGICAL REASON to object to this company receiving incentives. And if it also enables a n organization like Misericordia (another employer!) to provide additional or better care to its residents, all the better.
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