A friend sent me a link to this article from Inside Indiana Business. The article cites a Ball State University brief titled, “Some Economic Effects of Tax Increment Financing in Indiana“, which postulates, per the article, that the overall effect of TIF districts in a community is negligible in the creation of economic development because it is just a function of moving development from one area (outside the TIF) to another (inside the TIF) at the expense of taxpayers outside the TIF. If you’re really interested in this, I would suggest you follow the link to the full “brief” as there is a lot more information there than what has been condensed into the article.