Review of World Business Chicago and the TIF Approval Process

Executive Summary

WBC is a City-funded economic development organization. WBC routinely submits to the City letters in support of corporations applying for TIF funds. The City, in turn, relies on WBC’s letters as evidence of community support for the proposed TIF projects. The IGO has determined that WBC lacks an effective conflicts of interest policy necessary to ensure the integrity of the organization’s recommendations to the City. The IGO further recommends that, as currently configured, WBC should discontinue its practice of submitting letters in support of specific TIF subsidies and the City should not rely on WBC’s letters as evidence of community support because (1) WBC is headed by the Mayor and is dependent upon the City for the majority of its funding it therefore is not an independent organization; (2) WBC engages in minimal analysis of the merits of the TIF proposals for which it advocates; and (3) WBC directors who are active officers or directors of corporations each owe a fiduciary duty to their own companies, creating possible conflict of interest in WBC’s evaluation of and advocacy for certain TIF proposals.