A rendering of the LeClaire Courts redevelopment plan proposed by the Chicago Housing Authority and two private development firms [Department of Planning and Development]

Mayor Lori Lightfoot brought to the City Council this month a plan to create the city’s first new tax-increment financing district — a controversial financing mechanism that siphons new property tax revenues into a fund for capital projects — since Mayor Rahm Emanuel spearheaded the creation of a new district around the Lincoln Yards development in 2019.

If approved, the new Cicero/Stevenson tax-increment (TIF) financing district (O2022-1742) will seize future property taxes to pay for street infrastructure, water pipes and other public works around the site of the Chicago Housing Authority’s pending redevelopment of the LeClaire Courts housing complex near the city’s southwest border. The local alderman says the new district has his full support, and the support of his constituents.