LaSalle’s TIF Scam: Two TIFs Raided, Millions Promised, Nothing Built

By Jamie Hicks, Investigative Journalist, Hicks News

 What LaSalle Taxpayers Were Promised—And How Two TIFs Were Quietly Emptied

It all sounded good at first. The City of LaSalle promised to bring new life to downtown using a tool called TIF—Tax Increment Financing. It's supposed to help cities fix up older buildings, attract new businesses, and boost the local economy using property taxes that are set aside for these special projects.

But instead of boosting our economy, the City of LaSalle used those TIF dollars on projects that never got finished—or never even got off the ground. Now, according to city records, just one of those TIF funds (TIF District V) is nearly $90 million in the hole (2024 TIF Records, p. 11). And the biggest chunk of that is tied to a hotel that still hasn't reopened.

In simple terms: LaSalle taxpayers are on the hook for millions, and there's not much to show for it. While some areas got new sidewalks or streetlights, many big projects were all promise and no progress. And the money that should have been helping our schools, roads, and city services was rerouted into a system that isn’t working for the people paying for it.

This report breaks down exactly what went wrong, who was involved, and how your money was spent. It explains how two separate TIF funds—meant to fund redevelopment—were quietly drained to support one project that never got off the ground.

Most people don't know what a TIF is, and that's part of the problem. A TIF (Tax Increment Financing district) is supposed to take future growth in property tax revenue and reinvest it in underdeveloped areas to bring in new businesses, jobs, or housing. In other words, the city temporarily redirects property tax dollars away from schools and services with the hope that an investment today brings in more money tomorrow.

But in LaSalle, that promise wasn’t kept. Instead of spurring new private development, the city used two TIF districts (TIF IV and TIF V) to fund demolition, streetscaping, legal fees, and architectural plans for a project that never moved forward. Over $2.5 million in public money was spent on parking lots and downtown prep work around the hotel site. None of it resulted in construction.

Meanwhile, the city approved a $26.5 million TIF agreement with a new developer—Peter Limberger of CL Enterprises—but never publicly explained what happened to the original agreement with Blouke Carus, who purchased the hotel in 2003 and had his own redevelopment plans. That agreement was never formally canceled in a city resolution or public meeting.

So where did Blouke go? Why did his daughter Inga Carus (now part of CL Enterprises) quietly take over the project without a single recorded transfer? And why did the city sign a massive TIF deal with a new developer without ensuring the old one had been properly resolved?

In the end, TIF IV and TIF V were both drained. Property taxes were diverted. The hotel is still closed. And the public is left with almost $90 million in combined debt and obligations.

Over a decade, LaSalle’s Tax Increment Financing (TIF) funds—meant to rejuvenate blighted areas—were funneled into dead-end projects, school payouts, and infrastructure maintenance, leaving taxpayers with nearly $90 million in debt.

Through methodical digging, the trail reveals a tangled web of COVID relief fund diversions, library donations rerouted, misplaced city garage funding, and questionable investments in Rotary Park—all orchestrated under the pretense of community development.

Hicks said,

"This isn’t just mismanagement. It’s a systemic unraveling of public trust."

“It’s like watching someone take money from your kid’s school and dump it into a black hole downtown.”

“Not one brick has been laid, not one bed made—and yet they committed $26.5 million of our tax money to this.”

“We paid millions to prepare for a hotel that never happened. The developer didn’t build, but taxpayers are still paying the bill”