Tax "Incentives" Returned
After Daley spent millions paying companies to move to Chicago without creating a single job and Rahm has continued that tradition, what's the end result?
- United Continental Holdings, parent of United Airlines, is giving back $5.6 million in City of Chicago tax incentives.
The incentive money is tied to United's 2007 move to its corporate headquarters at 77 W. Wacker Drive, along the Chicago River.
Because of United's recent plans to move out of that building and consolidate its headquarters into Willis Tower where it has other operations, the airline said it was "appropriate" to return the money. However, it wasn't necessary.
If United didn't live up to the terms of the TIF handouts, it "wasn't necessary" to return the money? What the hell is that? It would seem that everything written about TIF money being an unaccountable bucket of cash used to bribe certain interests is coming to light.
Looks like they're keeping some other cash though:
- The giveback does not include $35.9 million in TIF money tied to a separate 2009 incentive agreement that involved moving 2,500 workers from Elk Grove Village to Willis Tower.
And buried at the end of the article? This information that almost no one will read:
- United is the fourth company to return TIF funds recently, according to the mayor's office. The others are CME Group, CNA Group and Bank of America, which together returned some $34 million in TIF money last year. CNA and Bank of America fell short of the 2,700 or so jobs each was required to keep in exchange for the tax breaks, which helped them update buildings. However, they returned the money earlier than they had to, a city spokesman said.
We imagine they kept a sizable portion of the money to defer moving costs and the like, essentially making it a risk free move for their stockholders to secure Chicago digs. How very....corrupt.
Labels: money questions
posted by SCC at 12:01 AM
22 Comments:
Someone besides The Reader's Ben Joravsky reporting on TIFs? Weird.
'How very....corrupt.'
How very....Chicago!
Put the TIF funds in the bank or invest it, keep the interest or the gains and return the advanced funds. Sounds like a legal scam,,,,,,,
Anyone know whatever happened with the tif money used to fund the animal testing lab at 40th & Morgan? That's some fucked up shit.
$39.6 MILLION returned since last year, but there's no money for police hiring, contracts, etc... Plus, they are NOT returning another $35.9 MILLION, but we're broke. That's $75.5 MILLION. Sorry. No money. Do more with less. We all have tighten our belts. Shared sacrifice, you know. Tough economic times. All Bush and the Repubs fault. Close police stations. Gut the department. Eliminate 1,400 positions with the stroke of a pen. Fire Dept., you guys are next. Every City dept. must make cuts. BUT....
$55 MILLION for un-necessary Maggie Park
$91 MILLION for bike lanes
$250 MILLION for a renovation of Malcolm X college
$1 MILLION to Ceasefire (with no accountibility)
$31 MILLION 911 Center upgrades
Plus O'Hare expansion that doesn't seem as needed as it once was, 50 alder-thieves and all their staffs, and red-light cameras "for the children". Frustration and outrage doesn't even scratch the surface, but it NEVER changes. Vote the out, you say. I voted against everyone I was able to. Didn't matter. They all stayed. Move away, you say. Can't. My house isn't worth shit, but my taxes went up. Quit and get a different job, you say. Can't, too much time in to leave, but not enough to collect and get out. You have to hope there is an afterlife and all of these lying, thieving, politicians get their just dues.
I stepped off the planet for a moment, but now I'm back. SCC, run for Mayor.
Illinois has the worst deficit in the country. Yet the city is moving ahead with the $55,000,000.00 Maggie Daley park.
I could vomit. Take these corrupt pols and useless media to the guillotines.
2007? that was five years ago!
If we paid them the money 5 years ago we should be getting interest back on the money.
Hell, pretty good deal to have someone hand you the free use of millions of dollar whereas you can use the money to prop up your balance sheets allowing exec's to benefit from their stock options in a timely manner, or invest or gamble or whatever.
This story reminds me of the so many corporations that get busted for wrong doing and then make a plea bargain not admitting or denying any wrong doing.
Too bad your common joe don't get that opportunity when the rob a bank or something. Lemme just give the money back and we'll call it square okay? That would work right?
I need to take a Rahm and wipe my Quinn.
So the money saved by ignoring pension obligations is then used for bribes.
Please tell me again how that is the workers fault ?
Anonymous said...
Put the TIF funds in the bank or invest it, keep the interest or the gains and return the advanced funds. Sounds like a legal scam,,,,,,,
11/13/2012 01:00:00 AM
Right, and what is bank rate interest these days? About one half of one percent? Wow, someone made a fortune on that interest! Or is it one half of one half of one percent? No matter, it is less than one percent in any case. You need a gazillion bucks to make anything at those rates.
Anonymous said...
$39.6 MILLION returned since last year, but there's no money for police hiring, contracts, etc... Plus, they are NOT returning another $35.9 MILLION, but we're broke. That's $75.5 MILLION. Sorry. No money. Do more with less. We all have tighten our belts. Shared sacrifice, you know. Tough economic times. All Bush and the Repubs fault. Close police stations. Gut the department. Eliminate 1,400 positions with the stroke of a pen. Fire Dept., you guys are next. Every City dept. must make cuts. BUT....
$55 MILLION for un-necessary Maggie Park
$91 MILLION for bike lanes
$250 MILLION for a renovation of Malcolm X college
$1 MILLION to Ceasefire (with no accountibility)
$31 MILLION 911 Center upgrades
Plus O'Hare expansion that doesn't seem as needed as it once was, 50 alder-thieves and all their staffs, and red-light cameras "for the children". Frustration and outrage doesn't even scratch the surface, but it NEVER changes. Vote the out, you say. I voted against everyone I was able to. Didn't matter. They all stayed. Move away, you say. Can't. My house isn't worth shit, but my taxes went up. Quit and get a different job, you say. Can't, too much time in to leave, but not enough to collect and get out. You have to hope there is an afterlife and all of these lying, thieving, politicians get their just dues.
I stepped off the planet for a moment, but now I'm back. SCC, run for Mayor.
11/13/2012 01:34:00 AM
And we all take a cut to our pensions, because the City can't afford it, yup, that shared sacrifice thing again. We sacrifice and the big companies get to share.
Sounds like a giant kickback scheme. Nothing new here.
Here's my question - Where's the $34 million now and how will it be used?
Here's a way to save a lot of money. Rename Grant Park; Maggie Daley Park. They did it to Dyche Stadium. The opportunities are endless. They've already started with those extra street names. How many people know who Royko and Kupcinet are?
The TIF fund is a complete corrupt rip off for taxpayers. ALL of the money in that fund should be placed in the city pension funds to help bring them back to health. There is no accounting where this money goes and why. Almost a $Billion sitting in that fund right now.
The city plans to destroy almost 800 tress to build Maggie Park. WTF! I thought the Daley's were such great environmentalist. Tearing down beautiful trees in the park to build a shrine for the Daley Crime Family? And the icing on the corrupt cake is a connected contractor will get over paid to plant 800 new trees. The Chicago Way at it's very best.
just wait until they close all these schools next year and lay off a bunch of teachers--- does this mean that every cook county property owner will get a property tax rebate because of all the money that will be saved from streamlining the cps--- probably not because they are claiming a billion dollar budget deficit for next year....
I worked at United a few years ago as a IT contactor. It was a running joke about the cash they scored for the "move". The way they got around it was just by moving name tags to empty cubicles, no lie. People who worked at the Elk Grove location were terrified of having to work downtown. The fear of black people robbing them at the train station during the day and having to take a train to work instead of the Stepford Wife dropping them off with their bag lunch was just not acceptable. I am not making this up. They had a blog detailing how safe it was and general guidelines on how to survive in the big city.
Sounds like a kick back scheme.
They going to reverse the movie projector so all those flattened houses in Bensenville spring up again, and the dug-up dead at St. Johannes Cemetery leap back into the ground -- or is Daley's mammoth earth-moving, cement-pouring boondoggle of an unwanted runway project still a "go?"
Can't the Police just arrest these politicians for thievery and gross idiocy or something, and then shoot 'em when they try to escape?
OT: JUST IN...
CHA-CHING, CHA-CHING
Verdict reached in cop beating case
Victory Party at the Shortstop Inn,
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