Every Chicago taxpayer should be calling on our mayor and aldermen to delay the proposed tax increment financing (TIF) district along the North Branch of the Chicago River. This TIF would finance at least $800 million of mostly transit-related infrastructure in and around Lincoln Yards, a 70-acre, $5 billion development still in its conceptual phase. According to the city’s Department of Planning and Development, the projects would be “front-funded” by the Lincoln Yards developer, Sterling Bay, who would be reimbursed, with interest, by the TIF.
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There is only one reason why Sterling Bay would agree to front-fund these projects: they will be good for Lincoln Yards! As such, Sterling Bay would probably be willing to pay for many, even most, of them without the promise of taxpayer reimbursement. Efforts to approve the new TIF before Sterling Bay has finalized its plans are a thinly disguised attempt by the mayor and Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) to defray Sterling Bay’s costs.
The key questions are: What infrastructure is Sterling Bay willing to privately finance? What roads would they build on their own? Will they support the 24-acre public park proposed by the North Branch Park Preserve Coalition?
Please urge the mayor, Hopkins and your alderman to put this TIF proposal on hold until Sterling Bay has put its cards on the table. Our elected officials should be trying to get the best possible deal for taxpayers, not padding developers’ profits. After we’ve seen Sterling Bay’s plans and commitments, we can consider public financing for infrastructure improvements. Delay the TIF!
Mark A. Faasse, Roscoe Village
A second civil war won’t end well
I believe that our nation is again engaged in a nasty Civil War. It seriously threats our country, its governing institutions and moral compass. The chasm that I and others observe between those whose tribe is “conservative” and those whose tribe is “liberal” has never been deeper and uglier. We are not yet fighting with weapons of war, but mostly with antagonism, suspicion, lack of respect and unwillingness to listen critically and be open to persuasion. This will not end well!
Mary F. Warren, Wheaton
Demand action on climate change
Thank you for your report “Government climate report warns of worsening US disasters.” The government report is the clearest statement to date that human activity is driving 90 percent of global warming, that significant costs have already resulted from inaction, and that the problem will get much worse.
Given that the report was assembled by 13 federal agencies, one huge question is left unanswered: Why doesn’t President Donald Trump believe his own scientists? Ignoring the report’s call to action and risking a 10 percent decline in the health of the U.S. economy, as well as putting at risk the physical health of citizens, is irresponsible.
Trump, if he were to take responsibility, would take the lead in placing an immediate and annually rising fee on carbon emissions. The fee, placed on energy suppliers, would go right back to households as a dividend to offset fossil fuel price increases. A torrent of investment in non-carbon-emitting energy sources would follow once markets knew that fossil fuel prices will keep increasing. In about 5 years, non-emitting alternatives would become cheaper than fossil fuels, causing the market to flip towards green energy.
Studies show this approach grows jobs and gross domestic product, and dramatically reduces greenhouse gas emissions. If the White House continues to refuse to act to prevent a hotter future, call your elected representatives and tell them to join the 33 Democrats and 33 Republicans in the congressional Climate Solutions Caucus. Demand action now!
Andrew Panelli, Homer Glen
