This presentation on privatization and TIFs was given to Theresa Amato's public interest law class at the Loyola Law School. The audio is 47 minutes long. If you'd like a copy, please email tom@civiclab.us.

1. Connecting The Dots -
Fighting Privatization.
Serving the Public.
Expanding the Public.
October 10, 2013
Tom Tresser

3. Store front space at
114 N. Aberdeen in West Loop
for activists & educators to co-work,
collaborate, teach, build tools/apps
that will help accelerate
CIVIC ENGAGEMENT &
COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT efforts.

6. “You’re next!
You’re next!”

7. Bad deals
bleed city.

12. 5% or
40%?

17. Richard
Norment,
Executive
Director, The
National
Council for
Public-Private
Partnerships

19. Watch this 2 ½ minute video @
http://tinyurl.com/InfrastructureTrustExplained

20. June 18, 2012
“Until the case
is made that
this trust is
necessary and
will operate on
the behalf of
the public, the
entire
enterprise
should be
scrapped.”

21. Richard
Norment,
Executive
Director, The
National
Council for
Public-Private
Partnerships
“You’re
next!”
“You’re
next!”

22. The Frame for Privatization
He who frames
the argument
wins the
argument…

23. The Frame for Privatization
1.We are broke.
2.Government is
stupid. Private sector
is genius.

24. The Frame for Privatization
Therefore…
If you (Ms. Citizen) want
anything new or
improved from
government, we need to
turn to the private
sector.

25. OOPS!
Maybe
private
sector is
NOT the
best
steward of
the public
good.

27. “The average
private
government
contractor with
a security
clearance earns
about $20,000
more each year
than a
government
employee with
the same
clearance.”

28. So what’s the REAL reason...?
Paul Krugman, Winner
Nobel Prize in
Economics, 2008
From his column in the
New York Times, June
21, 2012….

29. “But the main answer, surely, is to follow the money.
Never mind what privatization does or doesn’t do to
state budgets; think instead of what it does for both
the campaign coffers and the personal finances of
politicians and their friends. As more and more
government functions get privatized, states become
pay-to-play paradises, in which both political
contributions and contracts for friends and relatives
become a quid pro quo for getting government
business. Are the corporations capturing the
politicians, or the politicians capturing the
corporations? Does it matter?…The point, then, is
that you shouldn’t imagine that what The Times
discovered about prison privatization in New Jersey
is an isolated instance of bad behavior. It is, instead,
almost surely a glimpse of a pervasive and growing
reality, of a corrupt nexus of privatization and
patronage that is undermining government across
much of our nation.”

30. “In short, debt funds have
finally made their mark in
the infrastructure
fundraising landscape. In
modern parlance, debt
funds have arrived.
This is not entirely
surprising given that
appetite for infrastructure
debt is at an all-time high
just as yields from gilts are
hitting record lows.
As many of you may have
noticed, there’s a new
catchphrase in town -
“Infrastructure debt? It’s
the new fixed income” -
which is compounding a
well-known trend:
allocations to alternatives
have increased by roughly
15 percent over the last 15
years largely at the
expense of fixed interest.”

32. We
are not
broke!

33. Watch the first 6 minutes of this video @
http://tinyurl.com/NewYork-Is-Not-Broke

34. New York State faces a budget deficit of
$10 billion in 2011 ~ 1/13th of
a total $132 billion
operating budget

35. Public employees are blamed
(for a crisis we did not create)
Threatened with 9,800 layoffs
WHAT’S HAPPENING?
WHAT’S HAPPENING?
WHAT’S HAPPENING?

36. A major assault
upon
public education,
public health
and public safety

37. An offensive against
public workers,
led by the nation’s
Governors
and lawmakers,
state by state

39. ANTI-UNION LEGISLATION
INTRODUCED IN OVER 20
STATES
RIGHT-TO-WORK LAWS
INTRODUCED IN 14 STATES
WISCONSIN AND OHIO HAVE
PASSED SWEEPING ANTI-
UNION LAWS
TEACHERS’
UNIONS
TARGETED…
States with bills to limit or eliminate
collective bargaining for teachers, or
otherwise target teachers' unions
include Wisconsin, Ohio, Tennessee,
Indiana, Nebraska, Texas, New
Hampshire, Michigan, Idaho,
Massachusetts, Oklahoma,
Pennsylvania, Alabama, Florida,
Minnesota, Missouri, Utah, Arizona,
and others

40. Public employee
union members
7.6 million.
Private sector
union members
7.1 million.
Source:
“(Government) workers of the
world unite! Public-sector
unions have had a good few
decades. Has their luck run
out?”
The Economist, 1/6/11
www.economist.com/node/17849199

41. A major assault
upon organized labor,
an offensive against
all of the unions

42. We need to take
our own pulse!
Remember the
adage: “the best
defense is a
good offense.”
We should ask:
Who are they
defending?

43. BILLIONAIRES!
THE ASSAULT
ON THE
UNIONS IS
REALLY A
DEFENSE OF
THE BANKERS
AND
BILLIONAIRES

44. In the universe there are
1,210 billionaires

45. 412 Billionaires in the USA!

46. How many
Billionaires in
New York?
68!

47. New York
IS NOT
BROKE!
68
Billionaires
in
New
York

48. The wealthiest
New Yorker
is no longer
Mayor
Bloomberg…
(he’s now the 2nd
wealthiest)…

49. Today the
richest New
Yorker is
David Koch,
worth about
$22
Billion!

50. During the heyday of
America’s middle class
(1950-1980) the top 1% had
about 10% of total income.
They now take
25%!

51. Top 1% Income Share 1914 to 2006
^ ^
Eisenhower Reagan
Growing
income inequality
James Parrott, Ph.D., Fiscal Policy Institute,
“Grow Together or Pull Farther Apart? Income Concentration Trends in New York,”
http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/FPI_GrowTogetherOrPullFurtherApart_20101213.pdf

52. We have the most
unequal income
concentration of
any state in the
nation.
New York’s
wealthiest 1%
get more than
35% of all
income in New
York State.

53. Income shares and household incomes
in New York 1980 compared with 2007
(2007 dollars)
Shares of Total Income (AGI) % change
1980 -Top 5% - 22%
2007 - Top 5% - 49%
1980 - Bottom 95% - 78%
2007 - Bottom 95% - 51%
James Parrott, Ph.D., Fiscal Policy Institute,
“Grow Together or Pull Farther Apart? Income Concentration Trends in New York,”
http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/FPI_GrowTogetherOrPullFurtherApart_20101213.pdf

54. Since 1990,
the top 5% have
GAINED.
THE bottom 95%
have LOST.

55. Income shares and household incomes
in New York 1980 compared with 2007
(2007 dollars)
Average Income (AGI) % change
1980 -Top 1% $446,507
2007 - Top 1% $2,730,973 +511.6%
1980 - Bottom 50% $16,074
2007 - Bottom 50% $14,045 -12.6%
James Parrott, Ph.D., Fiscal Policy Institute,
“Grow Together or Pull Farther Apart? Income Concentration Trends in New York,”
http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/FPI_GrowTogetherOrPullFurtherApart_20101213.pdf

56. Top 0.01% Income Share 1913 to 2008
“Striking it Richer:The Evolution of Top Incomes in the United States”Emmanuel Saez, July 17, 2010
http://www.econ.berkeley.edu/~saez/saez-UStopincomes-2008


The eve of the Depression

57. 0.01% of households
That’s 1/10,000th!
take more than 5%
of total income
This is
UNSUSTAINABLE

58. The Wealthiest 1%
(80,000 households) together pull in
over $200 billion annually,
more than 1/3rd of all income in NY.
The state budget deficit is
5% of $200 billion ($10 billion).
Source: James Parrott, Ph.D., “Grow Together or Pull Farther Apart? Income Concentration Trends
in New York,” Dec. 13, 2010, Fiscal Policy Institute

59. Reinstituting the 1972 NYSincome tax
structure would yield $8 billion
more in income tax
revenue for New York,
while reducing income
taxes for 95% of us!
http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/taxhistory2.htm

60. Lost revenue: billions & billions & billions
NY’s tax-cutting binge from 1994-2000, has lead to the current fiscal crisis.
“Back on Track: Why Progressive Tax Reform is an Essential Part of New York’s Budget Solution,”
March 2009, Fiscal Policy Institute
http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/CWFandFPI_BackOnTrackPersonalIncomeTaxReform_20090323.pdf

61. Tax wealth
not work.

62. TIFS =
Giant
Slush Fund

63. Where are TIFs?
All over Chicago and
Cook County
• 158 in city of Chicago
• Additional 281 in suburban
Cook County
• 2012 = 439 TIF districts in
Cook County

64. Where are TIFs?

65. How Many TIFs?

66. How Much Revenue Do
TIFs Collect?

67. 2012 TOTAL TIF REVENUE FOR COOK COUNTY
City of Chicago
TIFs diverted $457 MILLION
Suburban Cook County
TIFs diverted $266 MILLION
TOTAL FOR 2012 = $723 MILLION
How Much Revenue Do
TIFs Collect?

68. How Much
Revenue Have
Chicago TIFs
Collected?
Ouch!

69. Who Is Harmed By TIFs?
In Chicago, The Board of
Education is SUPPOSED to get
almost 54% of your property
taxes. But…

70. Who Is Harmed By TIFs?

71. Who Is Harmed By TIFs?

72. Who Is Harmed By TIFs?

73. CME 2011
revenues of
$3.3 BILLION!

75. New Mayor is “Shocked”!
The Chicago Sun-Times
(5/25/11) reported that
"Without criticizing Daley
directly, Emanuel said he was
‘shocked’ to learn that TIF
districts have been multiplying
for more than two decades
without any job creation
standards."

76. THE CITY HAD $1.7 BILLION
IN UNSPENT TIF FUNDS AT
THE END OF 2012!
CAN YOU SAY
“UNACCOUNTABLE
SLUSH FUND”?

77. These TIF transfers of property taxes to wealthy and
successful companies divert public funds from vital
units of government. They are yet more examples of
the 99% being ripped off to enrich the 1%.

78. Stop
giving away
our stuff!

79. The Feds
are wasting
our money

83. Illinois net loss of
$253 billion from
1991 – 2001

85. ILLINOIS NET
FEDERAL
TAX LOSS
$ 4 BILLION/
YEAR.

86. Stop
wars now.
Demilitarize
USA.

87. To Sum Up – Connect The Dots
• Tax wealth, not work
• Don’t give away our stuff
• Stop the wars
• Take back our meters. Take back the city.
• Protect & extend the public. Cut class size
in half.
• Organize new frame
• More PUBLIC, not less.
• We take care of our own!

89. tom@civiclab.us
@tomstee
@civiclabchicago
312-804-3230
www.civiclab.us