Archive for the ‘About us’ Category

AREA Chicago Distributes 5,000 TIF Posters

April 10 | Posted by Tom Tresser | About us, Public Education+Organizing, Research, TIF 101, TIF News, TIF Town Meeting, Training

Thanks to the great folks at AREA Chicago we are distributing 5,000 copies of the TIF Illumination Project’s graphic poster showing the results of our investigation of the 12 TIFs inside the 27th Ward. Awesome! The poster was designed by Carlyn So. The Spring 2013 issue focuses on housing.

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Two-For-One Special At Chicago State University

April 2 | Posted by Tom Tresser | About us, In The News, Research, TIF 101, TIF News, TIF Town Meeting, Training

It will be a 2-for-1 special this Saturday, April 6 at Chicago State when we Illuminate the many, many TIFs inside the 8th and 9th Wards. Join us at 10am. Details and RSVP at Facebook. http://tinyurl.com/TIF-Forum-April-6

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Coverage Of 7th Ward Illumination

April 2 | Posted by Tom Tresser | About us, In The News, Public Education+Organizing, TIF 101, TIF News, TIF Town Meeting

From Progress Illinois, “Dozens of South Shore residents weren’t too happy upon learning that a portion of their property taxes have been used as part of the city’s tax increment financing, or TIF, program. Tom Tresser, co-founder of the CivicLab, came to the 7th Ward, and is heading to others, as part of the volunteer-based TIF Illumination Project, which is intended to promote TIF... Read more

CivicLab Will PechaKucha On March 5

February 20 | Posted by Tom Tresser | About us, Technology+Democracy, TIF 101, TIF News

Tom will be presenting at the 25th edition of PechaKucha Chicago at Martyr’s on March 5 at 8:00pm. What is PechaKucha? “PechaKucha 20×20 is a simple presentation format where you show 20 images, each for 20 seconds. The images advance automatically and you talk along to the images. PechaKucha Nights are informal and fun gatherings where creative people get together... Read more

Technology & Democracy

January 3 | Posted by Tom Tresser | About us, Technology+Democracy, TIF News

Check out this TED talk by Clay Shirky on how peer-to-peer technology can open a new frontier of participatory democracy. It’s what the TIF Illumination Project and the CivicLab are all about!

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Chicago Reader Wishes Us Well!

December 13 | Posted by Tom Tresser | About us, Research, TIF 101, TIF News

The great Ben Joravsky, who has forgotten more about TIFs than most will recall, has written about the CivicLab and our TIF Illumination Project. He keeps talking about Tom Tresser, but the No Games Chicago campaign was a real team effort and the CivicLab already has over 20 volunteers working on different projects! “In his previous crusade, north-side activist Tom Tresser... Read more

Shared Research – Pitch In!

December 8 | Posted by Tom Tresser | About us, Research, TIF News

There are 1,220 TIFs in Illinois inside of 455 municipalities. In 2010 they extracted $1.12 BILLION in property taxes from taxpayers across the state. What do we know, collectively, about all this economic activity? Precious little. We need YOU to become a TIF Illuminator and help shed light on this economic transfer system that takes from the many and gives to... Read more

Good Bye and Good Luck (from Roger)

March 22 | Posted by Tom Tresser | About us, Public Education+Organizing

I ran against Roger Keats for Cook County Board President last year. He was the Republican candidate and I was the Green Party candidate. I got this email from him today. He says he will moving with his wife to The Hill Country near Austin, Texas. As we leave Illinois for good, I wanted to say goodbye to my friends and wish... Read more

Scan for Contact Info

February 25 | Posted by Tom Tresser | About us

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TIF Report Launches

February 7 | Posted by Tom Tresser | About us, TIF News

The TIF Report is a new web site being prepared by TresserLabs. This site will contain information, reports and updates on Tax increment Finance districts. We will start with a focus on Cook County and Chicago. We hope to expand this service to all Illinois and then to the entire nation.

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