It’s Thursday. Start your morning with WTTW News. Also, remember to look up: There’s a near-total lunar eclipse happening late tonight.
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(WTTW News)
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Chicago’s widespread use of tax increment finance districts caused property tax bills to increase significantly during the last 40 years, but did little to spur economic growth in the parts of the city that needed it most, according to a new study.
The districts, better known as TIFs, “reinforced the city’s historic economic inequities instead of reducing them — and all of this happened with little transparency or accountability from city planning officials,” according to a study released Wednesday by the Great Cities Institute at the University of Illinois Chicago.
In addition, Chicago’s use of TIF districts “diverted an extraordinary share of property tax revenue generated in TIF districts away from schools and other basic public services” into projects designed to combat blight, but failed to have any significant impact, according to the study from Teresa Córdova, the institute’s director, Juan González, Matthew Wilson and Jason “Jay” Campos.
Córdova, who chaired the Chicago Plan Commission from 2018-22, is also a professor of urban planning and policy in the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs at UIC.
In all, $1.59 billion poured into the city’s 108 TIF funds in 2024, an increase of more than 51% since 2020, according to data from the Cook County Clerk’s Office.
Between 2014 and 2023, Chicago property owners saw their property tax bills grow 13.7% because of TIF districts, the study concludes.
But less than 2% of the growth in the assessed valuation of all Chicago properties can be attributed to subsidies from a TIF district, which means the vast majority of the growth the city has enjoyed was due to their creation, the study concludes.
More context:
No other city in the United States has more TIF districts than Chicago, records show.
The study declares that TIF districts in Chicago have become a “runaway tool” that have grown too large and too complex for both members of the public and elected officials to ensure they are actually being used to spur equitable development.
“The bulk of TIF funds over 40 years have gone to a handful of downtown and more affluent neighborhoods, a shift of resources and investment that is difficult to reconcile with TIF’s stated purpose of prioritizing ‘blighted’ or underperforming areas,” the study concludes.
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Mayor Brandon Johnson addresses the news media on Aug. 11, 2026. (WTTW News)
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Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order Wednesday designed to prevent firms profiting from President Donald Trump’s effort to implement the largest mass deportation effort in U.S. history from winning lucrative city contracts.
“Chicago spends billions of dollars every year purchasing goods and services,” Johnson told reporters at the West Side offices of Arise Chicago, a nonprofit that works to protect the rights of immigrants, before riffing on his favorite Bible verse, Matthew 6:21. “That is our treasure, and today we’re making it very clear where our heart is. Our heart is with the immigrant families who have endured the fear and intimidation of the Trump administration’s Midway Blitz assault, which launched almost a year ago.”
Contractors must also certify that they have not committed a “public integrity violation, antidiscrimination or wage theft violation” during the previous five years, according to the order.
What to know:
Johnson’s 26th executive order gives the city’s chief procurement officer 90 days to develop new rules requiring city contractors to disclose whether they have earned more than $500,000 from governments or law enforcement agencies in the previous five years, according to the mayor’s office.
Those firms will also have to disclose whether they have been probed for civil rights violations connected to that work in the previous five years, according to the order.
The new rules are designed to give Chicago a legal basis for refusing to do business with firms accused, but not convicted of wrongdoing, according to the order. City ordinance already prohibits firms convicted of violating public integrity laws from holding city contracts.
Johnson announced the order alongside the leadership of the group Not With Our Money, which is pushing local governments not to contract with the firms that are helping to carry out Trump’s deportation efforts.
The group identified $3.19 billion in Chicago contracts held by firms that also do business with ICE, including AECOM, a multinational firm which built the police and fire training academy and is leading the modernization of O’Hare Airport.
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The Meta logo is seen at the Vivatech show in Paris, France, on June 14, 2023. (AP Photo / Thibault Camus, File)
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Meta agreed to pay out more than $17 billion and must implement significant safety features to protect children on Instagram and Facebook as part of a new settlement with Illinois and dozens of other states announced Wednesday.
That settlement ends a landmark trial over teen social media addiction amid claims that Meta designed its social media platforms with addictive features and knowingly exposed young users to serious mental health harms.
Under the $17.1 billion settlement — which is subject to court approval — Illinois will receive up to nearly $768 million.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, who filed suit along with 46 other states, called the agreement a “monumental victory” for online safety he said will affect “an entire generation of young people.”
“After decades of putting profits before the health and wellness of children, this landmark settlement requires Meta to put our children’s safety and mental health at the forefront,” Raoul said in a statement. “It is imperative that all social media apps protect our children, and I will continue working with my colleagues toward that end.”
Raoul said his office played an “integral role” in getting this case to court, preparing it for trial and negotiating the new settlement.
The lawsuit accused Meta of contributing to the youth mental health crisis by deliberately designing features that addict children to its platforms and intentionally misleading the public about their safety. The case also argued that Meta violated federal laws by routinely collecting data on children under 13 without their parents’ consent.
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Back in the Day: August 27, 1959 - Pan American Games Open in Chicago
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Since 1951, the Pan American Games have been a continental and quadrennial multi-sport tournament that’s officially sanctioned and recognized by the International Olympic Committee. It happens the year before the Summer Olympics. On this day 67 years ago, the third-ever Pan American Games kicked off in Chicago. It marked the first time the tournament had been hosted in the United States. At the opening ceremony in Soldier Field, some 40,000 spectators braved 90-degree heat to watch a parade of all 2,162 competing athletes from 24 countries. The tournament featured 18 sports and lasted until Sept. 7. The next iteration of the Pan American Games happens in Lima, Peru, on July 23,
2027.
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This Week’s Arts and Culture Events
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Every Thursday, WTTW News newsletter producer Josh Terry highlights his picks for the week’s must-see cultural events.
Monday marks the end of meteorological summer. While you could complain about the unpredictable weather, the stretches of storms, heat and smoke, you can’t argue that Chicago hasn’t brought the goods when it comes to cultural events. Whether it's film, theater, music or fine art, WTTW News has you covered for this weekend with this small sampler of recommendations.
Film: “The Sun Never Sets” — Music Box Theatre
Chicago director Joe Swanberg has thrived on quiet dramas and comedies that explore relationships, families and the messiness that transpires therein. While most of his films take place in Chicago, his latest charts a course for the Alaskan wilderness. It stars Dakota Fanning, Cory Michael Smith and Jake Johnson, and it premieres Friday at the Music Box. Swanberg will be in attendance for the screenings Friday and Saturday evening. For showtimes and tickets, click here.
Theater: “Sunday in the Park With George” — Chopin Theatre
Written by James Lapine with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, “Sunday in the Park With George” premiered in 1984 and received remarkable critical acclaim. It was nominated for a whopping 10 Tony Awards and earned the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. While it’s been the subject of multiple revivals over the past few decades, the latest is opening now at Chicago’s Chopin Theatre. The musical is inspired by Georges Seurat’s pointillist masterpiece painting, “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.” For tickets, click here.
Art: “Feminism 250: Woman Made America” — Woman Made Gallery
On Saturday, a group exhibition featuring work by 52 women and nonbinary artists will open at Woman Made Gallery in Little Italy. The exhibition is called “Feminism 250: Woman Made America.” Tied to our country’s semiquincentennial, it “looks back at 250 years of feminist thought and action, from early demands for basic rights to today’s movements for gender justice and asks how that history can guide the feminist futures still being built.” There’s an opening ceremony Saturday evening from 4-7 p.m. for the collection that will be on view until Sept. 26. For more information, click here.
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What Chicago food item would you willingly wait in line for? Tell us why.
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Email DailyChicagoan@wttw.com with your responses and your answers might be published.
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Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry
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