The Civic Federation annually releases a report on consumer taxes in the City of Chicago. Consumer taxes are tied to the use or consumption of certain goods and services that can be charged directly to consumers through retail transactions or passed on to consumers by businesses or governments. Consumer taxes in Chicago are imposed at various levels of government, including the City of Chicago,…
The Chicago City Council approved the City’s annual budget for FY2022 (which aligns with the 2022 calendar year) on October 27. The Civic Federation supported the City’s FY2022 budget totaling $10.6 billion in an analysis of the budget proposal released earlier this fall. This blog post takes a closer look at spending in the area of public safety within the City’s budget. Public Safety offices in…
The Civic Federation released its annual analysis of the City of Chicago’s proposed budget this week. Included in the report was a section dedicated to the budgetary impact of the City’s four pension funds and evaluating trends in their funded status. This blog post reproduces that chapter for readers who might not otherwise see it. Pensions in the FY2022 City of Chicago Budget The City of…
Concerns remain regarding pension funding and sustainability Click here to read the full report. Click here to view the landing page for this analysis. CHICAGO – In a report released today, the Civic Federation expressed its support for Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposed FY2022 budget of $10.6 billion, because it leverages federal COVID-relief funding to balance the budget, maintain…
Click here to read the full report. Click here to read the press release for this analysis. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Civic Federation supports Mayor Lightfoot’s proposed FY2022 budget of $10.6 billion for all local funds (excluding grants and capital). The City of Chicago is in a much better financial position now than a year ago thanks to significant federal COVID-19 relief funding that has…
The City of Chicago has released a FY2021-FY2025 Capital Improvement Program (CIP).[1] The purpose of a CIP is to establish priorities that balance capital needs with available resources, pair capital projects with funding sources, help ensure orderly repair and maintenance of capital assets and provide an estimate of the size and timing of future debt issuance. The first year of a CIP is…
In her FY2022 budget address, Mayor Lori Lightfoot highlighted the public and private economic development investments that have been made through the INVEST South/West initiative. For those unfamiliar with the program, this blog provides a quick summary of its goals and intended impact. INVEST South/West Initiative On October 21, 2019, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced a new initiative called…
The Chicago City Council approved a new collective bargaining agreement with the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) on September 14, 2021. The FOP is the union representing the approximately 11,000 police officers for the City of Chicago, who make up the majority of approximately 13,000 Chicago Police Department employees. The new contract replaces the most recent collective bargaining agreement for…
On April 21, 2021, the City of Chicago adopted Substitute Ordinance 2020-5902, which requires the Department of Finance to publish monthly reports of Corporate Fund revenues. This amendment to the Municipal Code also requires the Department to coordinate with the City’s Office of Management and Budget to collect revenue data and produce a report comparing current revenues to budgeted revenues and…
Click here to read the full report. Click here to read the press release for this analysis. MAJOR FINDINGS Effective property tax rates are a measure of property tax burden for homeowners and businesses. They translate the tax rates on property tax bills into rates that reflect the percentage of full market value that a property owed in taxes for a given year. This report, produced annually…
