Committee recommends mixed actions on five TIFs; West Evston deferred

The Finance & Budget Committee reviewed staff-collected survey feedback on five tax-increment financing (TIF) districts and voted to forward recommendations to city council on April 8.

Staff summarized anonymized committee survey responses. For Howard Ridge, four of six survey respondents favored allowing the TIF to expire naturally at the end of 2028. Most respondents favored letting the Dempster Dodge TIF close early at the end of 2027 once debt service could be paid off. A majority supported leaving the Five-Fifths TIF open. Committee feedback suggested closing the Chicago Main TIF early but not before 2030 to allow remaining project goals and debt-service timing to align.

After debate, a motion was made and approved to recommend council: allow Howard Ridge to expire naturally on Dec. 31, 2028; close Dempster Dodge at the end of 2027; keep Five-Fifths open and re-evaluate later; and plan to close Chicago Main early but no sooner than 2030. The roll-call vote on the recommendation carried by five to one. The committee agreed to defer further action on the contested West Evston TIF until the May 6 meeting.

Procedure and next steps: the committee will forward the four recommendations to full council for action and will continue discussion on West Evston at the May 6 Finance & Budget meeting.