Illinois TIF annual report checklist

A checklist to work through in the weeks before you file an Illinois TIF annual report with the Comptroller. Do it once per district. Detail lives in the annual report guide, the due date calculator and the late fines page. Last checked October 13, 2026.

Print this checklist

Dates

• Write down each district's fiscal year end. The default due date is 180 days after it. Use the due date calculator.
• If the audit will be completed after the 180-day date, the due date is the day the audit became available to the municipality. Note the audit date.
• If a joint review board meeting falls after the 180-day date, that can also set the due date. Note the meeting date.
• Plan to answer the preliminary questions in the Comptroller's portal (audit date, joint review board meeting, whether the district has terminated) by the default due date. Per the instructions, not finishing them by then makes the report delinquent.
• Confirm the date the portal shows. Treat the calculator as a planning aid.
• If you may need more time, read the one-time extension request in the Comptroller's instructions. It becomes available 24 hours after you answer the preliminary questions and needs a signed, dated engagement letter naming the auditors, the expected audit completion date and the extended due date you are asking for.
• Read the fine and grace period language in the current instructions. See late fines and the 14-day grace period.

Per district records

• List every TIF district. Each district's report goes through the portal separately.
• Write down each district's own due date, not one date for the municipality.
• Record the audit date and joint review board meeting date for each district.
• Note whether any district has terminated.

Sections

The template has eight sections; Section 3 is split into three parts.

• Section 1. Municipality and TIF district identified.
• Section 2. Compliance checklist: a yes or no for each of the 15 lettered attachments.
• Section 3.1. Revenue into the special tax allocation fund, split across the 11 revenue categories on the form.
• Section 3.2. Expenditures against the 18 statutory cost categories (3.2A), plus vendors paid more than $10,000 (3.2B).
• Section 3.3. Debt obligations and project costs still to be paid.
• Section 4. Property the municipality acquired.
• Section 5. Projects and the private to public investment ratio.
• Section 6. Jobs and investment by project for the fiscal year.
• Section 7. District boundary: a description, or the legal description and map marked as enclosed.
• Section 8. Equalized assessed value and the overlapping taxing districts.

Attachments

Section 2 points to lettered attachments, A through O. Labels follow the FY2026 template as TIF Nexus has it encoded.

• Attachment A. Amendments, enactments or extensions to the redevelopment plan, project area or State Sales Tax Boundary.
• Attachment B. CEO certification of compliance with the Act. Required every year.
• Attachment C. Opinion of legal counsel that the municipality is in compliance with the Act. Required every year.
• Attachment D. Statement of activities undertaken in furtherance of the redevelopment plan.
• Attachment E. Agreements about the disposition or redevelopment of property in the project area.
• Attachment F. Additional information on the use of all funds received.
• Attachment G. TIF advisor or consultant contracts with entities receiving TIF-financed payments.
• Attachment H. Reports submitted to the municipality by the joint review board.
• Attachment I. Official Statement for any obligations the municipality issued. It is supposed to travel with Attachment J.
• Attachment J. Financial advisor or underwriter analysis of the obligation terms and debt service.
• Attachment K. Audited financial statements of the special tax allocation fund. Applies once cumulative revenue for the district reaches $100,000.
• Attachment L. Independent CPA letter on compliance with subsection (q) of 11-74.4-3. Applies once cumulative revenue for the district reaches $100,000.
• Attachment M. List of intergovernmental agreements currently in effect (a list only).
• Attachment N. Third-party-verified developer stated rate of return.
• Attachment O. Letter from the Mayor or Village President designating the TIF administrator. Required every year.

Before you upload

The Comptroller does not publish a list of reasons a report gets sent back, so this is not that list. These are the gaps TIF Nexus's pre-filing check treats as stoppers, plus softer warnings.

• Section 2 has been gone through, so you know which attachments are in hand.
• Mandatory attachments B, C and O are marked complete.
• If Attachment I is enclosed, Attachment J is enclosed too.
• Compare the revenue you actually recorded to $100,000 cumulative. If the district has reached it, K and L are in the packet. The flag on the district is easy to leave stale.
• Section 7 is not empty: a boundary description, or a legal description marked enclosed and a map.
• Section 8 lists the overlapping taxing districts. A blank Section 8 is usually an omission.
• Section 3.3 was carried forward. If an earlier year still designated money to a bond or project cost that this year does not list, the ending balance reads as surplus owed to the taxing districts.
• Look at the softer warnings: an attachment marked complete with nothing on file, expenditures with no supporting document, a missing EAV for the year, and a joint review board that met before the report was filed. They will not stop an upload, but an auditor asks about them.
• Read the statute and the current Comptroller template before you rely on any one line of this list.
• Have the report ready as a PDF, one per district.

After you upload

• Upload the report for each district through the Comptroller's TIF reporting portal. Your municipality files it. TIF Nexus does not file for you.
• Send the report to the overlapping taxing districts and the joint review board, which reviews it at its annual meeting (65 ILCS 5/11-74.4-5(d)).
• If you need to fix an uploaded report, ask the Comptroller for permission to resubmit. The original is deleted once the request is authorized, the replacement must be a full report with changed pages marked "Amended", and it has to be re-signed and dated. The district stays open for 14 days.
• If a fine is invoiced, the Fines FAQ says you may request abatement after filing.