Monday, April 27, 2009

Show Us The Money!

A savvy reader writes in:
Roaming through some older articles, I came across this beauty:

From a November 2007 News-Star article by Lorraine Swanson:

Asked about the Wilson Avenue CTA Station, Shiller acknowledged that while the station was never part of the Wilson Yard TIF redevelopment plan, TIF money is being set aside “informally” if the CTA doesn’t have the capital dollars to pay for the station.

“We can at least leverage TIF dollars for federal monies that the CTA can no longer leverage because the state has been requiring that it pay off that money every year, and unless (the debt) is restructured, it’s not going to change,” Shiller said.

UU Note: Did anyone mention TIF $ at the meeting, last week?

Update:
From a State Senator Heather Steans email blast:
"Significantly, the legislature passed and the Governor signed a mini-capital bill of $3 billion. This roads and transit bonds program will create jobs in time for the current construction season and requires no new revenue. It maintains a 2-to-1 formula for roads-to-transit, meaning $2 billion is available for roads and bridges repairs, and $1 billion is targeted for transit. In the 7th Senate district, which I represent, state road projects that are included are:
Sheridan road from Arthur Avenue to Juneway Terrace
Broadway and Sheridan Road from Devon to Hollywood - the traffic signal interconnects
Lake Shore Drive viaducts at Lawrence and Wilson

Significant dollars will also be available to resurface various local roads throughout the district. The transit funds will also provide significant dollars to Chicago Transit Authority, including work on the Red Line. Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, State Representatives Harris and Osterman, and Aldermen Moore, O'Connor, Shiller and Smith and I have been meeting with top CTA officials to ensure the Red Line and its station are the highest priority."

4 comments:

  1. Is there a way that we could use this program to fund improvements to
    Lawrence and Wilson stops? According to the site, deadline for
    applications is June 12.

    http://programs.rtachicago.com/

    The Community Planning program provides funding and planning
    assistance to communities at the local level for planning projects
    that benefit both the local communities and the RTA transit system. Launched in 1999 under the name Regional Technical Assistance Program (RTAP), the program was renamed and launched as Community Planning in 2008 to better reflect the program’s focus on planning assistance for local communities.

    http://cp.rtachicago.com/

    ReplyDelete
  2. We encourage our readers to contact State Senator Heather Steans and let her know of the deplorable conditions of our stations in Uptown, most notably the crime-ridden and long neglected Wilson station.

    Contact Heather at:


    District Office

    State Senator Heather Steans

    5533 N. Broadway

    Chicago, IL 60640


    Phone: 773-769-1717

    Fax: 773-769-6901


    E-mail: hsteans@senatedem.ilga.gov

    ReplyDelete
  3. Consider this...

    If you fixed the Wilson L station, you might not be able to say the area is "blighted".

    If the area isn't blighted, your claim that TIF funds are needed for your pet housing projects takes a big hit.

    Keeping Wilson Avenue a hell hole is required to keep the TIF spigot open.

    ReplyDelete
  4. That doesn't make sense. A TIF is established for 23 for one thing. For another, I'm pretty sure if they can establish a TIF downtown fixing the El is not going to hurt the WY TIF. Shiller is a lot of things but dumb is not one of them, and she knows that. It's a matter of priorities, that's all.

    ReplyDelete