illinoisreview: TIF Bashing Facts
TIFs are used extensively to create or rebuild infrastructure for new development, often in conjunction with HOAs. The increased property taxes generated by new development within the TIF go to the municipality for the TIF distict, to repay the upfront cost of building the infrastructure, instead of to other taxing bodies. So, the school districts get new students from within the TIF, but don't get the increased property taxes to pay for them. The justification is that without the TIF blighted areas couldn't be redeveloped. But many people, myself included, think that TIFs are grossly overutilized. This is a blog post that extensively quotes an article about the impact of TIFS. Here's one snippet:

Tax increment financing is usually sold to the public with assurances that ‘TIF does not increase your taxes.’ However, NCBG’s study indicates clear warning signs that the liberal use of TIFs captures the natural growth in property tax base, putting more strain on every taxpayer and all taxing bodies, a strain more acutely felt in public budget belt-tightening times.” -- Neighborhood Capital Budget Group, which includes economists at University of Illinois and Loyola, DePaul, and Chicago State Universities. “Our analysis of 235 municipalities in the metropolitan Chicago region finds cities, towns, and villages that had TIF districts actually grew more slowly than municipalities that did not use TIF.” -- Professors Richard F. Dye and David F. Merriman for a study published by the University of Illinois...Nearly the only people who defend TIF are developers and consultants who make money from TIF, and municipal officials who create TIF districts. Study after study shows that TIF districts often fail to achieve their stated goals; divert growth away from other areas of the community, resulting in no net gain in development and sometimes net losses; and enrich a favored few developers, landowners, and businesses at the expense of everyone else.