Proposals introduced to City Council today by Mayor Rahm Emanuel would slightly revise the Small Business Improvement Fund (SBIF) program while providing funds for the program’s operation in 13 Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts.

The SBIF program helps to improve commercial and industrial properties in select TIF districts by making funds available for improvements involving windows, floors, roofs, heating and air conditioning systems, and other upgrades.  The assistance is provided upon project completion and does not have to be repaid.

Proposed changes to the program include a reduced maximum grant amount for commercial properties of $75,000, down from $150,000, to enable more businesses to participate in the program. Another change would require the owners of completed SBIF projects to wait three years before reapplying to the program, up from one year.

The proposals would reallocate $500,000 in SBIF funding for the 47th/State, Bryn Mawr/Broadway, Division/Homan, Jefferson Park, Lincoln Avenue, Northwest, Pulaski, Ravenswood, Lawrence/Pulaski and Belmont/Central TIFs. One million dollars would be reallocated for the Western Avenue South and Humboldt Park TIFs and $500,000 would be allocated for the first time to the Archer/Central TIF.

The SBIF program currently operates in 84 of the City’s 163 active TIF districts. For more information about SBIF, please visit www.cityofchicago.org/tif.

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