09 September 2009 ? According to Crain?s today: the CME Group Inc. has applied for $15 million in city aid to subsidize a major renovation of the Chicago Board of Trade Building. In exchange, the CME has promised to create 900 jobs over the next 10 years, according to Alderman Robert Fioretti of that Ward. The actual cost of the renovation of the art deco property is estimated at $61 million. The CME?s request brings into question the city?s use of TIF money, which critics call ?corporate welfare? but city officials defend as an important job-creation and development tool. Mr. Fioretti contends that it would keep the company from moving its headquarters to another city. The city offered the CME a generous aid package?totaling as much as $40 million?around the time the exchange was wrapping up its $12-billion acquisition of the Board of Trade in July 2007. But so far, the discussions between the city and CME have resulted only in the current $15 million TIF proposal. The Board of Trade Building is located in one of more than 130 TIF districts created by the city to spur development. In a TIF district, a portion of property tax revenue that would normally go to school districts and other government bodies is set aside for projects that city officials believe wouldn?t happen without a subsidy.