Study Finds TIES Hinder Growth.

A recent study by two University of Illinois researchers finds that cities and villages in the Chicago metropolitan region with tax increment financing (TIF) districts grew more slowly than municipalities that did not have TIF districts. The study looked at 235 municipalities in northeastern Illinois and analyzed changes in assessed property value for tax years 1980-1984 (before TIF was adopted in these municipalities) and the period 1992-1995 (the post-adoption period). The results of the research show that the rate of growth in property values for municipalities was virtually the same in the post-adoption...