In our city, there was a proposal before the city council to build a streetcar system from the near southside to downtown to the uptown area just north of downtown. The Upton and Near Southside TIF (tax increment financing) districts, along with some federal money, would have paid for the construction and rolling stock. All they asked from the downtown interests was approval of the project; they didn't want any of their TIF money. The vote was held when two members of the city council (who were streetcar supporters) would be out of town and couldn't change their plans. The approval fell one vote short and they gave the seed money back to the feds.

What does the Downtown TIF money go toward, you might ask? Well, they subsidize parking downtown, of course.