DeKalb Times

In a Dec. 5 news release, Rep. Jeff Keicher (R-Sycamore) spoke out about tax increment financing (TIF) districts and their effects on school districts.

“Granting long-term extensions to TIF districts is costing our school districts significant revenues,” Keicher said. “According to the nonpartisan Illinois Answers Project, in the City of Chicago alone there is approximately $500 million sitting in the TIF coffers up for renewal today that have not yet been spent. Money that could go a long way toward helping the financial issues plaguing the Chicago Public Schools system. This is true for many other school districts across our state as well where we see TIF extensions proposals. I am deeply concerned that the TIF extension legislation we passed this week extends some TIF districts to 47 or 35 years beyond their original guideline. We need to change the way we renew TIF’s by limiting them to their first term only. By doing so we can better support our school districts and create downward pressure on local property taxes by giving TIF dollars back to these communities.”

Good Jobs First describes TIF Districts this way: "Tax Increment Financing, or TIF, is a geographically targeted economic development tool. It captures the increase in property taxes, and sometimes other taxes, resulting from new development, and diverts that revenue to subsidize that development. That diversion means local public services do not get the new revenue they would normally get from new re/development."

Senate Bill 1595 allows TIF districts to be extended an additional 12 years from the initial 23 years already allowed. This means that these districts would be taking taxes away from school districts for 35 years. Senate Bill 1595 passed both houses on Dec. 1.

Keicher was first elected to the Illinois House in 2018. His legislative experience includes serving on the Appropriations-Higher Education, and Immigration & Human Rights committees. Keicher resides in DeKalb.