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In 2021 Tom was brought to Berwyn (via Zoom) to do a TIF Illumination of the TIFs of Berwyn. The sponsors was newly elected City Councilman Rob Pabon of the 5th Ward and the Rizoma Collective from Cicero. Rob and his allies successfully organized and shut down the proposed TIF. It never happened! This is the first time, in my awareness, that neighbors were able to cancel a TIF that was this far along in its development! Contact us at tom at tresser dot com
The Saturday after the TIF Illumination, Rob and allies, including people who were on the March 10 call, met to knock on doors in the area where the proposed TIF was to be located. They distributed this piece, which was in Spanish on the other side.
“Thank you for working with us in great urgency to let the Berwyn community know about a new private development project attempting to utilize the Tax Incremental Financing (TIF). Tom was able to generate a TIF 101 and Berwyn TIFs workshop on the Zoom platform and live-streamed on Facebook. 150 individuals indicated they were “Interested” and/or “Going” to the Facebook event. This resulted in engaging 55 community residents with next step information after the workshop. We began with introductory information about TIFs and engaged in dialogue and asking pressing questions necessary to increase our knowledge. We ultimately filled up the Berwyn Town Hall and lobby. Hidden public funds is one of the many forms of injustice we must have our eyes on. In less than a week, we were able to gain some guidance about how to mobilize against a TIF. We hope more communities can gain local information on TIFs, as a way to end corruption and springboard into a thriving and just community.” – The Rizoma Collective
