Judge tosses groups’ lawsuit against Lincoln Yards TIF subsidy

After telegraphing his ruling last week, a Cook County judge held Monday that community groups challenging tax subsidies for the Lincoln Yards project had no standing to bring the case.

Circuit Court Judge Neil Cohen said in a written opinion that the groups, Grassroots Collaborative and Raise Your Hand for Illinois Public Education, could show no harm they have suffered from the city’s decision to grant the project subsidies. The agreement, passed by the City Council in the waning days of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration, authorizes up to $1.3 billion in tax increment financing, or TIF, funds.

“The complaint here does not allege that the city’s purported inequitable use of TIF Districts has impaired plaintiffs’ ability to provide services or otherwise operate. The complaint simply alleges that plaintiffs have chosen to focus their advocacy against the city’s use of TIF District funding rather than other causes related to their missions,” Cohen wrote.

He also wrote, “The facts alleged in the complaint clearly show that plaintiffs have no standing to bring suit against the city, as they show no distinct, palpable injury to a legally cognizable interest fairly traceable to the city.”

The Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights represented the groups. Its chief counsel, Aneel Chablani, said, “Although our complaint was dismissed based on legal standing, the ruling did not actually address the substance of our arguments that Chicago’s administration of TIF is discriminatory and illegal and that the Lincoln Yards should never have been approved. We will be evaluating all legal options to address today’s court ruling and continue this challenge.”

The groups had argued that in authorizing subsidies for development in a relatively wealthy and white community, the city was diverting tax dollars that could hurt poor, minority areas.

In questioning both sides’ lawyers last week, Cohen voiced support for the groups in their campaign against the TIF funds. But he challenged the plaintiffs on the issue of actual harm and said their pursuit of social justice can go on unimpeded.

“You are not being frustrated in your purpose,” he said. “You will walk out of this courtroom and you’ll be doing exactly what you’re supposed to be doing.”

The City Council created the TIF district in April, but new figures for property valuations came out a month later. Had the city waited for those figures, the growth shown in Lincoln Yards property values might have made the site ineligible for TIF help.

Cohen took a swipe at the city last week for its handling of Lincoln Yards but said he’d have to stick with the law in deciding the case. “I understand there was a rush to judgment, because they understood what the trend was,” he told the attorneys.

Among the precedents the judge cited in his written opinion was a 2001 case brought by the Better Government Association, which had probed corruption in the office of then-Secretary of State George Ryan. The BGA alleged it had standing to sue because it had to spend money on its probe.

But the U.S. Court of Appeals rejected the BGA’s claim, finding that “ordinary expenditures” as part of a group’s mission do not constitute harm.