Tom Tresser

  • 2020 Chicago TIF Report Available!

    by - Nov 27, 2021
    No one can give you this data. The City does NOT want you to have it. Only the CivicLab can tell you everything about Chicago’s out of control Tax Increment Financing Program. Click...
  • 183rd Public Meeting Lights Up Evanston TIFs

    by - Sep 23, 2021
    On Wednesday, September 23, 2021 the CivicLab presented at our 183rd public meeting. We Illuminated the TIFs of Evanston. 79 people registered and 46 attended – including two sitting Evanston city council members,...
  • 2019 TIF Analysis Available!

    by - Aug 20, 2020
    Our 2019 TIF Illumination of all of Chicago’s TIFs for 2019 is now available! Thanks to the intrepid team at the City Bureau for assembling the raw data. Click here to request your...
  • Great Timeline for Chicago’s TIF Program

    by - Feb 25, 2020
    Check out this interactive time line from Medill School of Journalism student Joel Jacobs, “How Chicago’s Controversial TIF Program Took Over a Third of the City.” Tweet
  • We Illuminate the TIFs of Cincinnati!

    by - Dec 13, 2019
    The Cincinnati Educational Justice Coalition and the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers brought Tom Tresser to the Queen City over the weekend of December 9. The mayor there is proposing to create 15 new...
  • 77th TIF Meeting a Smash!

    by - Sep 20, 2019
    From Kyle Sneed, President of the Wicker Park Committee: “Tom did a great job! He clearly articulated how tax increment financing (“TIF”) works, where districts are located in the 1st, 2nd, and 32nd...
  • 2018 TIF Analysis Out!

    by - Aug 29, 2019
    The TIF Illumination Project’s analysis of Chicago’s Tax Increment Financing Program for 2018 is online! Bring us to YOUR community to continue the process of grassroots civic engagement we started in 2013. Tweet
  • 34th Ward Illumination A Smash!

    by - Jan 26, 2018
    “This is a critical time in our country’s history and now, more than ever, we need our voters to be able to make informed decisions. That’s where CivicLab’s TIF Illumination Project comes in....
  • We Contribute to BGA Expose But Get Snipped From Article

    by - Jul 24, 2017
    The Better Government Association and Crain’s Chicago Business published an expose of how $55 million in TIF dollars was money laundered by city agencies. TIF Illumination project lead organizer Tom Tresser spent three...