BRONZEVILLE — Principals in the 3rd Ward came back to school on Tuesday with an extra $1.8 million from the local tax-increment financing districts.
Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd) said Tuesday she’s been working since May to get the money out of the coffers of two of the special taxing districts and into the ward’s 12 schools.
Phillips Academy will use its portion for new musical instruments, and other schools are using their money for computers, after-school programs, mental health services for students and other resources, Dowell said.
Sam Cholke on the use of TIF funds to help schools.
The amount schools got ranged from $112,575 to $203,900 based on what principals said they needed, Dowell said.
The money comes from two of the 3rd Ward’s TIF districts, special taxing districts that cap the amount the county, city and other taxing bodies can collect in property taxes from a specific area for 23 years. Any growth in the tax base above that threshold is diverted into a special fund that is supposed to be used for infrastructure improvements in the district.
Dowell has declared funds in her TIFs “surplus” before, which sends the money collected back to the municipal agencies that would have otherwise gotten it.
In February to help with Chicago Public Schools’ budget gap, Dowell pulled almost $3.6 million out of her ward's taxing districts so CPS could get its share of tax revenue, $1 million at the time, that had been diverted into the TIF’s coffers.
She said this time, principals are getting tax revenue that would have otherwise gone back into the city’s general fund, and she said she told principals they could not use it to close budget gaps.
Dowell said the principals have known for a while the money was likely coming, but she said many parents only found out Tuesday that the extra resources were there in the school.
She said she did not remember which TIF districts were affected, but said it was two districts that did not have any major infrastructure projects in the near future that would have needed the money.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
