This brief provides an updated compilation of selected consumer taxes, including rates and descriptions, in effect in the City of Chicago on December 1, 2009. It includes such taxes as the sales tax, gas tax, amusement tax, lease tax…
The Civic Federation's legislative priorities for 2010 include public pension reform, requiring state government to develop and implement performance measurement and a capital improvement plan, the dissolving of the Illinois International…
In FY2010 the City of Chicago proposes to close a majority of its FY2010 $520 million budget deficit with proceeds it received from the long-term leases of its parking meters and the Chicago Skyway. This begs the question: how has the…
The Civic Federation opposes the FY2010 City of Chicago budget of $6.14 billion because it is unsustainable and relies too heavily on one-time reserve funds to close a $520.0 million budget deficit. The proposed drastic draw down of long-…
The Illinois Senate voted today to approve House Bill 4625, which means both houses of the…
The property tax rates released yesterday by the Cook County Clerk show that the composite tax rates in the City of Chicago and many municipalities declined slightly from the…
Data from the most recent audited financial statements of Illinois’ state and local government pension funds shows that the total unfunded liabilities for pensions supported by the taxes of Chicago residents reached $10,037 per capita for…
One of the Civic Federation’s ongoing concerns has been transparency in the use of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) by the City of Chicago and State of Illinois. Although the Civic Federation supports the use of TIF as municipal economic…
This week the Civic Federation released its annual Effective Property Tax Rates report. The report…