On March 24, 2016 the Illinois Supreme Court filed its opinion affirming the Cook County Circuit Court’s ruling that the reforms made to the City of Chicago’s Municipal and Laborers’ Pension Funds in Public Act 98-0641 were unconstitutional because they reduced pension benefits in violation of the pension protection clause of the Illinois Constitution. Background …
This annual brief provides a compilation of selected consumer taxes, including rates and descriptions, in place in the City of Chicago as of May 1, 2016. It includes such taxes as the sales tax, amusement tax, lease tax, hotel tax, liquor tax, restaurant tax, soft drink tax, wheel tax and parking tax.
Consumers of electronic cigarettes in the City of Chicago and Cook County as a whole will pay new taxes in 2016. As part of their FY2016 budget processes the City of Chicago and Cook County both expanded their taxes on tobacco products to include liquid nicotine products, also known as e-cigarettes. New Tobacco Related Taxes The City of Chicago’s FY2016 budget originally included a tax on…
Short-term or current liabilities are financial obligations that must be satisfied within one year. They can include short-term debt, accounts payable, accrued payroll and other current liabilities. This blog post presents five-year trends for: 1) total short-term liabilities in the Governmental Funds, and 2) short-term liabilities as a percentage of operating revenues for the three largest…
The following are the five most read posts presented by the Civic Federation blog in 2015. These posts examine a number of closely followed local government issues, ranging from City and County taxes to Chicago pension debt. Where Do Your Property Taxes Go? April 7, 2015 This blog post outlines how property taxes are distributed by describing how property tax dollars were proposed to be…
FY2016 Budget Season Summary December 3, 2015 marked the end of the budget season for the eight local governments monitored by the Civic Federation. These governments include: the City Colleges of Chicago, Chicago Public Schools, City of Chicago, Cook County, Chicago Transit Authority, Forest Preserve District of Cook County, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago and Chicago…
This annual report compares estimated effective property tax rates in the six-county region of northeastern Illinois between 2004 and 2013, the last year for which data are available. Among the 12 selected Cook County communities that the Civic Federation analyzed, Harvey had the highest effective tax rate for residential properties at 8.08% in tax year 2013, and Chicago had the lowest…
On December 10, 2015, the Motorola Solutions Foundation and the Civic Federation honored the outstanding public service of Karen Tamley, Commissioner of the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD). The annual award recognizes a non-elected government official who has had an extraordinary impact on the quality of state and local government services in Illinois. Illinois’ business,…
The Civic Federation and Motorola Solutions Foundation are pleased to announce the 2015 Excellence in Public Service honoree, Karen Tamley, Commissioner of the City of Chicago’s Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities. The award recognizes a non-elected government official who has had an extraordinary impact on the quality of state and local government services in Illinois. The award will be…
The City of Chicago’s FY2016 budget proposes to implement a monthly solid waste removal fee of $9.50 on households, which is projected to generate $62.7 million in new revenue.[1] Currently the City of Chicago spends approximately $244 million per year on solid waste removal services. The Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation currently provides solid waste removal services free of charge…
