State Reports

Environmental helpers II

Derelict Properties: Scale and Scope of an Urban Environmental Problem, Illinois Department of Energy and Natural Resources [now Department of Natural Resources], 325 W. Adams, Springfield 62704 (May 1995).

Abandoned and run-down factories surrounded by weed-infested parking lots have emerged as a prominent characteristic of post-industrial American cities. This study outlines the scale and scope of the problem, especially in Springfield, Decatur, Peoria, Rock Island and Moline.

Tax Increment Financing in Illinois,by Kent D. Redfield, for the Taxpayers' Federation of Illinois, 201 E. Adams, Suite 350, Springfield 62701; telephone 217-522-6818 (September 1995).

TIF districts have been an instrument for correcting urban blight. Although Illinois municipalities were given authorization to create TIF districts in 1977, few were created during the first seven years and fewer still could have been

called successful. The General Assembly made several changes in the law after 1985, and the number of TIF districts has grown steadily during the past decade.

This report examines the state's expeience with TIF districts, looks at some problems associated with them and offers a number of policy options, including criteria for designating a district.

A Directory of Illinois Nature Preserves, Illinois Department of Natural Resources, 524 S. Second, Springfield 62701 (1995); Volume 1: Northeastern Illinois; Volume 2: Northwestern, Central and Southern Illinois.

Illinois has 236 nature preserves covering 33,350 acres. Some are only half an acre in size; the largest consists of 1,940 acres. They are distributed among 73 of the state's 102 counties, and most of them are open to the public. The preserves are presented alphabetically in two volumes.

Anna J. Merritt