When a startup in Chicago needs to expand, they don't just need engineers. They need space, transit access, and housing their team can afford.

Our city has a tool designed to fund exactly that kind of infrastructure.

It’s called Tax Increment Financing or TIF

But instead of building the future, Chicago is draining these funds to patch budget holes.

TIF districts work like this: the city freezes the property tax baseline in a defined zone. As property values rise, the new tax revenue (the increment) goes into a special fund that's reinvested in that district for redevelopment.

This means site preparation, public infrastructure, land acquisition, improvements, and sometimes debt service for bonds issued to finance those investments.

Chicago's TIF districts captured about $1.36 billion in 2023 which was 42% of our city's property tax revenue that year.

TIFs represent one of the largest pools of infrastructure capital in the city.

They're designed to fund exactly what innovation needs: labs, spaces, transit-accessible districts, affordable housing near job centers.

Neighborhoods aren't just where startups locate. They're part of the innovation stack itself.

Instead of being fully reinvested in neighborhoods and innovation infrastructure, a growing share of Chicago’s TIF dollars are being declared “surplus” and redirected by the current administration to help close the city’s operating budget gaps.

In short: a TIF surplus means the city is taking leftover funds that were meant to stay in specific district and using them instead for general expenses, like balancing the budget or covering citywide services.

The use of TIF surpluses in Chicago has risen from $113.2 million in 2016 to $570.8 million in 2025, with a proposed $1 BILLION for 2026.

That’s a billion dollars diverted from longterm neighborhood investment to short term budget relief.

When TIF funds are pulled out to fill temporary gaps, it means fewer opportunities for builders, fewer upgraded neighborhoods ready for innovation, and fewer chances for underinvested areas to grow into hubs of tech and economic activity.

Chicago has already used TIF funds to build real innovation infrastructure.

mHUB used $17 million in TIF financing to convert an old industrial building into a manufacturing center with labs, fabrication equipment, and startup workspace.

Without TIF, the rehab would have been too expensive to pull off, they would have needed far more private capital, or the project might have ended up in the suburbs instead of the city.

With TIF, Chicago kept advanced manufacturing startups in the city, created lab and prototyping space that startups could not afford to build on their own, and built a training pipeline for hard-tech talent.

This shows how TIF can build the physical backbone of our tech economy.

With hundreds of millions in TIF dollars being swept to plug budget gaps next year, there is less capital available for the next mHUB-scale project.

If Chicago wants to build its next wave of tech growth, TIF is one of the tools we have to make it happen.

TIF should be used to fund our future, Chicago.

NVIDIA and Oracle are partnering with the US Department of Energy to build Solstice, the nation’s largest AI supercomputer at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois.

Powered by 100,000 of NVIDIA’s new Blackwell GPUs, the system will accelerate scientific discovery and develop agentic scientists that autonomously conduct research.

Today Argonne already has Aurora, a supercomputer with over 60,000 GPUs.

Meta, Google, and Microsoft just reported record profits — and record AI infrastructure spending:

While Wall Street reacts, the message is clear: AI infrastructure is the next trillion-dollar frontier.

RAD Intel already builds that infrastructure — the AI decision layer powering marketing performance for Fortune 1000 brands. Backed by Adobe, Fidelity Ventures, and insiders from Google, Meta, and Amazon, the company has raised $50M+, grown valuation 4,900%, and doubled sales contracts in 2025 with seven-figure contracts secured.

Shares remain $0.81 until Nov 20, then the price changes.

👉 Invest in RAD Intel before the next share-price move.

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_{This is a paid advertisement for RAD Intel made pursuant to Regulation A+ offering and involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. The valuation is set by the Company and there is currently no public market for the Company's Common Stock. Nasdaq ticker “RADI” has been reserved by RAD Intel and any potential listing is subject to future regulatory approval and market conditions. Investor references reflect factual individual or institutional participation and do not imply endorsement or sponsorship by the referenced companies. Please read the offering circular and related risks at invest.radintel.ai.}

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