November 19, 2020. at 2:30 P.M., Algonquin will hold its annual meeting, required by law, to report on the Downtown TIF District’s finances to the tax districts from whose coffers it indirectly pries money.

Here are some highlights of the 33-page report:

Taxes on increases in assessed value for all the private property on the map above are used to pay for improvements in the district.

That means over $7 million of assessed valuation has disappeared from the tax base of all overlapping tax districts.

Those district follow:

— Village of Algonquin
— McHenry County
— Elgin Community College District 509
— School District No. 300
— Algonquin–LITH Fire Protection District
— Algonquin Township
— Algonquin Township Road & Bridge
— Algonquin Library
— McHenry County Conservation District

Here are the $1.6 million in taxes diverted from the above governments so far:

Here are the names of the entities which benefited from expenditures over over $10,000:

Although a considerable amount seems to have been projected for private investment, look at what the report says about such investment:

What the diverted tax dollars have been spent on follows:

Here is what was taken into the Tax Increment Fund and what was spent during the last Fiscal Year:

Readers of this publication know that I am not a fan of TIF districts.

They cost all taxpayers outside of the district because the overlapping tax districts pretty much all raise their levies to make up for the lost property tax revenue.

The money spent inside TIF districts does not come from a money tree.

It comes from us.

And we have nothing significant to say about a TIF district’s creation.