On Wednesday, March 14, the Civic Federation co-hosted a conference on public-private partnerships (also known as “P3s”) with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Nearly 150 business, civic and government leaders convened to hear experts discuss their view of the future of government cooperation with the private sector to deliver government services and to develop major infrastructure projects.…
This blog continues the Civic Federation’s examination of indicators that can be used to assess the financial health of local governments. The Federation is working on a project that compares the City of Chicago with a group of thirteen large U.S. cities that have also been the subject of analysis by the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Philadelphia Research Initiative. Previous entries examined the City…
This brief provides an updated compilation of selected consumer taxes, including rates and descriptions, in effect in the City of Chicago on February 2, 2012. It includes such taxes as the sales tax, gas tax, amusement tax, lease tax, hotel tax, liquor tax, restaurant tax, soft drink tax, wheel tax and parking tax.
State and local governments across the nation increasingly are using alternative service delivery efforts, known as public-private partnerships (P3s) to provide a wide variety of services, from printing to janitorial services to major infrastructure projects. The reasons for moving to a P3 framework range from reducing operational costs, outsourcing internal service functions or obtaining one-…
The Civic Federation is working on a project to examine indicators that can be used to assess the financial health of local governments. Previously, this blog compared Chicago’s fund balance with a group of thirteen large U.S. cities that have also been the subject of analysis by the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Philadelphia Research Initiative. This entry compares Chicago to the same group of cities…
Data from the most recent audited financial statements of Illinois’ state and local government pension funds shows that the total unfunded liabilities for public employee pensions supported by the taxes of Chicago residents reached $14,896 per capita for fiscal year 2010. That is up from $10,037 per capita in FY2008. Property taxes paid by Chicago residents (both owners and renters) support the…
Chicago residents will experience changes in a number of consumer taxes going into effect throughout 2012 as a result of policy changes at the City and County levels. The new consumer tax rates are presented in the exhibit below. Following the table are explanations for each of the consumer taxes and historical changes to their rates. Sales Taxes “Sales” taxes in Illinois are actually…
In 2011 the Civic Federation blog provided weekly context, information and perspective on government budgets and fiscal issues across Illinois. Posts in 2011 focused on FY2012 local government budget analysis and the severe challenges facing local government pension funds, as well as a series of recommendations for improving the fiscal sustainability of the City of Chicago and Cook…
In 2011 the IIFS blog provided weekly context, information and perspective on key fiscal issues in the State of Illinois. Posts in 2011 focused on analysis of FY2012 Illinois budget negotiations, analysis of the ongoing Illinois pension crisis and timely research on other fiscal issues impacting the State of Illinois. The following is a selection of the year’s posts. Analysis of…
Last week marked the end of the budget season for the nine local governments monitored by the Civic Federation. These governments include: the City Colleges of Chicago, Chicago Public Schools, DuPage County, City of Chicago, Cook County, Chicago Transit Authority, Forest Preserve District of Cook County, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago and Chicago Park District.…
