this post was submitted on 12 Jun 2026
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me_irl
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Costco bulldozed a black and Korean neighborhood in my city using TIF money. All the earned and unearned press they get can fuck right off.
I’ve been trying to tell people Costco is just a PR company with a retail branch for years. Are the warehouse workers treated better than their counterparts in other big boxes and massive retailers, absolutely. Are they the good guys in any other capacity, hell to the fucking no!
TIF?
Tax Increment Financing, a financial tool that deems an area blighted often using nefarious rubrics to meet that definition. TIF diverts sales tax funding for municipalities for decades from areas in lieu to fund rapid development deals. First and foremost these billion dollar for-profit companies can fund their own developments but prey on desperate city councils who see a short term win with supposed long term benefits. They often put these deals on a fast track with a lot of public protest.
TIF lures in struggling cities and leaves areas without funding for decades under the assumption that in the long term, sales taxes will be recooped. Developers and businesses often seek new development faster under these deals so these neighborhoods don't see the recoopment. It historically predates upon minority neighborhoods that have been prey to decades of divestment.
TL; DR: we citizens pay for development under TIF, see no sales tax for the average life of a development, and then the business finds a new city to leach TIF development off of for another new development.