After more than a year of negotiation, outgoing Mayor Richard Daley and the “Sweet Home Chicago” coalition of affordable housing advocates finally reached an agreement to put more tax increment financing money toward affordable housing.

But unlike the dormant Sweet Home Chicago ordinance, the Vacant TIF Purchase and Rehabilitation ordinance — which passed the full City Council by voice vote May 4 — does not actually require that TIF money go to affordable housing.

So whether the law meaningfully improves the city’s affordable housing stock and rehabs vacant properties depends on local developers and incoming Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

“We had a lot of compromises,” said Ald. Walter Burnett (27th) the sponsor of the Sweet Home Chicago ordinance. “But we got our feet in the door.”

Housing advocates were particularly encouraged that it was Andy Mooney — Rahm Emanuel’s pick to permanently head the city’s Department of Housing and Economic Development — who shepherded the legislation through City Council.

“Mooney seems more open than anyone that we talked to in the past from the city for working with community groups,” said Julie Dworkin, director of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless and a member of the Sweet Home Chicago coalition.

The newly passed ordinance lets someone who has not owned a home in the last three years and makes no more than 100 percent of the metro area median family income ($75,000 in 2010) use TIF money to buy and rehabilitate a foreclosed property. The property must be in one of the city’s 166 TIF districts and it has to require at least $25,000 worth of repairs.

The ordinance was amended last week to also help renters. A developer can use TIF money to purchase a vacant property in need of rehab if they use 30 to 50 percent of the units toward affordable rental housing. For example, if a developer plans to set aside 30 percent of the units for affordable housing, TIF funds will cover 30 percent of the property purchase price.

Affordable housing is defined in the ordinance as being for renters who make less than 50 percent of area median family income ($37,500 in 2010).

Burnett and the Sweet Home Chicago coalition — a group of nine community groups and three labor unions — will try to utilize the new ordinance so it accomplishes the dual goals of more affordable housing and fewer blighted, vacant properties.

The ordinance comes amid sluggish home sales throughout Chicago and an increased foreclosure rate in neighborhoods like the South Loop and West Loop.

Dworkin said that the law “provides incentives for developers to provide more units as affordable.”

But it will be up to community groups, aldermen, and the city’s Department of Housing and Economic Development to let developers know about potential TIF funding opportunities. “Community groups can start to identify buildings and work with developers to apply for [TIF funding] for those,” Dworkin said.

Burnett said that the Housing and Economic Development Department and his office “will be setting up meetings with banks and letting them know how this law works.”

“Banks are holding a lot of these vacant properties,” Burnett said. “This law is an incentive to get those properties off the books.”

Affordable housing experts outside of the Sweet Home Chicago coalition praised the ordinance for including a rental component.

“That inclusion really strengthens the bill,” said Kevin Jackson, executive director of the Chicago Rehab Network. “We are hoping the city pushes more rental strategies to insure that buildings get occupied.”

Geoff Smith, vice president of the Woodstock Institute research and advocacy group, cautioned that it might take a while for the ordinance to pay dividends.

“The housing market continues to be unstable and so it’s difficult to have short-term success,” Smith said. “The success of these programs will be measured in five years not five months.”

The controversial TIF program siphons off about $500 million in city property taxes each year to economic development projects approved outside the normal city budget process.

Right now only about three percent of this money goes to affordable housing.

The Sweet Home Chicago Ordinance — proposed by Burnett in March 2010 and opposed by Daley — would have required that 20 percent of all TIF money by set aside for affordable housing. Burnett said that he will try to work with Emanuel on some revised version of the ordinance.

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By Paul from Response to JZ
Posted: 05/13/2011 12:00 PM

Taxpayers should be outraged by a bill written by Unions and 'entrenched coalitions’ deciding use of your tax funds? Where was the “inclusion” of ‘Joe taxpayer’? Obvious faults: 1 - Alderman given authority in process for $millions of dollars? This will increase local cronyism, graft, and pay-to-play. 2 – It's 'wealth redistribution' that will PORT funds from areas w/strong TIF activity and infrastructure needs to other areas for political pandering, when property taxes are already too high.

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By Paul from Response to JZ Part 3
Posted: 05/13/2011 11:40 AM

3 - It's a tax hike on property owners in TIF areas who fund the community improvements. As Politicians ampute the TIF process to prioritize 4 pandering points, instead of the advice of planning experts or needs of taxpayers, who will have to pay twice for necessary neighborhood improvements. 4 – ‘Affordable Housing’ is a ponzi scheme – Recent history of notable fraud including University Village scam, Allison Davis’s 35th St Park Blvd where ‘aff housing’ cost more than market rate housing, etc

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By Paul from Response to JZ Part 4
Posted: 05/13/2011 11:18 AM

5 –Examples of where it continues to be corrupted http://www.city-data.com/forum/chicago/649506-university-village-affordable-housing-units-sold.html http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/06/27/grim_proving_ground_for_obamas_housing_policy/?page=full http://www.nationalreview.com/media-blog/32182/more-chicago-corruption-news/greg-pollowitz http://www.opednews.com/articles/-Hizzhonor--Chicago-Polit-by-Stephen-Lendman-090422-484.html

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By Paul from Respose to JZ - part 5
Posted: 05/13/2011 11:16 AM

The timing of this should not be lost on people. Most Alderman who support Sweet Home Chicago were Daley opponents claiming TIF power abuse. Behind closed doors, their faux outrage was b/c the machine did not include them in the spoils that could help them build their war chest. So b/f Rahm got in office, they turned the tables to take control of some of the TIF fund driver seat. In the past, the MACHINE could use powerful Political PACS controlled centrally (with donations from businesses or clout holders benefiting from TIF projects) to target specific Alderman during elections to unseat or weaken them.

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By JZ from Tri-Taylor
Posted: 05/13/2011 9:12 AM

Paul, I don't understand why you have such a dismissive attitude to a program that will bring life into thousands of vacant properties in this city. Perhaps it is an attitude better suited to suburbia. Can I help you pack?

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By Paul from Near West
Posted: 05/12/2011 2:41 PM

oh brother - we can't get our roads, schools, and parks completed yet, and now these clowns want to siphon off money for this scam? Don't we have a few Alderman in jail already; this is like shopping child porn to pedaphiles ? Between the 25th, 11th, 3rd, and 2nd Wards, we have the most 'catering to the free-loaders' Alderman in the US. It's time to move to suburbia.

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By Paul from Near West
Posted: 05/12/2011 2:33 PM

oh brother - we can't get our roads, schools, and parks completed yet, and now they want to siphon off money for these scams? We are waiting with baited breath for the investigation of University Village affordable housing fiasco...