SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT

In a recent article, Chicago's leading business publication fundamentally misunderstood how

business transactions using tax increment financing (TIF) work. Contrary to the articles
assertion that TIF funds for the major new Marriott Marquis hotel at McCormick Square were
used as "an elaborate financial shell game" for the benefit of Navy Pier, the funds were properly
used for the hotel and only for that purpose.

By failing to understand the typical approach to how the city expends TIF funds, the authors of
this article have created unnecessary confusion and overshadowed the significant public
benefits that the Elevate Chicago initiative has achieved. We are writing to set the
record straight.

In short, no TIF funds were diverted to Navy Pier.

First and foremost, its important to understand the City contributed $55 million toward the
$498 million overall hotel project cost as a reimbursement to the Metropolitan Pier and
Exposition Authority (MPEA), not as an upfront payment. This approach protected the public's
interest by only allowing the expenditure of TIF funds after eligible expenses were complete.
MPEA advanced the funds for these reimbursable costs through its own sources. Only after
MPEA made these upfront payments did the City reimburse it, and the City's payments were
applied only to certified TIF eligible costs related to the hotel and for no other purpose.

It is also important to remember that all of the projects mentioned in

the article were announced together in May 2013 as Elevate Chicago, a unified and targeted
$1.1 Billion investment in Chicago's tourism and convention infrastructure. Elevate Chicago
included Wintrust Arena, the Marriott Marquis Chicago, a privately-funded smaller hotel,
streetscape work and the first phase of Navy Pier renovations. This was widely reported in
2013.

In sum, MPEA advanced all of the funds for the hotel project, some of which were later
reimbursed by the City. Only once MPEA received reimbursement from the City did it have
sufficient funds to support other Elevate Chicago projects, including a capital investment in the
improvement of Navy Pier, which it owns.

While somewhat complicated, this type of funding source and cash flow timing scenario is not
fiscal trickery nor sleight-of-hand, but rather one that might be expected in a large endeavor
such as Elevate Chicago.

What is truly lost, however, are the enormous public benefits that Elevate Chicago has achieved
and continues to achieve. The McCormick Square campus has created 6,000 construction jobs
and will support 15,000 jobs when completed, plus more than $9.4 billion in economic impact
by 2018. Additionally, Elevate Chicago is helping Chicago continue to shatter tourism records.
Overall tourism is up more than 20 percent since the Mayor took office. Chicago welcomed
more than 54 million visitors last year, which supported nearly 150,000 jobs across the city and
more than $15 billion in investment in Chicago.

To keep building on that progress we must continue to invest in Chicagos tourism

infrastructure, from McCormick Square to Navy Pier and far beyond it.

Sincerely,

David Reifman, Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Planning and Development

Lori Healey, Chief Executive Officer of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority