West End residents and allies have come together to stop the West End from becoming a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district. If the West End TIF district is activated it could displace and dispossess tens of thousands of residents during the course of the TIF's 20-year lifespan.

In August 2021, the Historically Black Neighborhood Assembly (HBN Assembly) officially launched this campaign. By December 1st, 2021 the campaign had over 300 supporters and had pressured three targets to resign from the TIF board or step away from the project entirely. We are on our way to stopping this TIF but we need to build more power.

That is why we are inviting folks to participate in our letter-writing campaign. The more people we can get to write their representatives about the TIF the more likely we'll be able to stop it in the new year! The legislation that governs the TIF is in jeopardy because it needs to be amended to satisfy its own requirements. Let's stop that amendment and block any potential supportive legislation. Join the fight by joining the letter-writing campaign!

Background: Without real public participation or credible feasibility studies, the self-serving architects of the West End Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district and West End Opportunity Partnership, lobbied and pushed through an insidious TIF bill to a state legislature vote in the dead of night just before midnight, on the last day of the 2021 session. Among these architects are developer and mayoral candidate Craig Greenberg and co-developer Steve Poe. Other complicit parties who currently support the activation of this TIF district include Mayor Greg Fischer, Senator Gerald Neal, Representative Pamela Stevenson, Metro Council Chair David James, and other members of the local and state government. Some complicit organizations include (but are not limited to) OneWest, the NAACP, Urban League, Simmons College and others that have exploited the West End for funds for years at great cost to the public. The TIF architects have since launched a “miseducation” campaign, justifying this undemocratic process, glorifying gentrification and suppressing criticism and facts about their TIF and failure of previous TIFs in Kentucky and nationwide. So, once again, powerful developers, aided by governmental and institutional “leaders'' have excluded, misled, used, abused, ignored, bullied and confused the public under the guise of uplifting the West End. This shameful betrayal of the public good and trust must be addressed!

Campaign Webpage: www.hbnassembly.org/westendtif

Campaign Petition: www.ipetitions.com/petition/stopthewestendtif