The Civic Federation supports the FY2012 proposed Chicago Transit Authority budget of approximately $1.2 billion because it ends the past practice of using capital funds to close operating gaps and maintains current fare and service levels. This budget proposes to substantially curb expenditure growth by addressing expensive labor practices thereby setting a direction for structurally balanced…
Last week the Civic Federation released its analysis of DuPage County’s $434.7 million FY2012 budget proposal. The Federation supported the County’s plan because it reduces expenditures for the third year in a row while pledging to maintain the existing level of service and keep the property tax levy at the same level as last year. However, despite the County’s efforts to reduce employee…
The Civic Federation supports the DuPage County Proposed FY2012 Financial Plan of $434.7 million. The County is reducing expenditures for the third year in a row while pledging to maintain the existing level of service and keep the property tax levy at the same level as last year. In order to properly plan for the most efficient and effective use of taxpayer resources in this uncertain economic…
Cook County Clerk David Orr’s office today released the 2010 Cook County Tax Rates Report. The report lists property tax rates for all taxing districts in Cook County and provides sample composite rates for many municipalities. The composite rate is the total tax rate that appears on a tax bill. The composite tax rate on a typical City of Chicago tax bill will increase from 4.627% last year to 4…
Today the Civic Federation published an update to its primer The Cook County Property Tax Extension Process: A Primer on Levies, Tax Caps, Tax Bills and the Effects of Tax Increment Financing Districts. The update adds additional years of data when available and provides an enhanced explanation of the effect of tax increment financing (TIF) on local governments and taxpayers in Cook County. This…
Illinois’ Personal Property Replacement Tax (PPRT) is a revenue source for local governments that was created by the General Assembly in 1979 to replace a tax on the personal property of businesses that was abolished pursuant to the 1970 Illinois Constitution Article IX Section 5. Although its name refers to the tax it replaces, the PPRT is an income tax on the federal taxable income of…
The following opinion piece by Civic Federation President Laurence Msall appeared in the August 1, 2011 edition of Crain’s Chicago Business. Recently, a government official was quoted in Crain's asking, “Is the Civic Federation ever happy?” It is true that the federation has a 117-year reputation of delivering the hard truth about our local and state governments' financial difficulties. However,…
The Civic Federation supports the City Colleges FY2012 tentative budget totaling $651.5 million, an increase of $69.6 million, or 12.0%, over the adopted FY2011 budget. Unrestricted operating funds, the portion of the budget over which the District exercises maximum control, will increase by 1.7%, or $5.3 million dollars over the previous year. The property tax levy will be frozen at the…
UPDATE: The proposal to allow the Blue Park Gun Club the use of Forest Preserve District property for its operations was withdrawn, after significant urging from the Friends of the Forest Preserve. Cook County Commissioner Joan Murphy, one of the sponsors of the resolution, withdrew the proposal when Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said she would not support the issue. Commissioner…
As explained previously in this blog a key indicator the Civic Federation uses to assess the financial health of local governments is the level of unreserved general fund balance maintained. Such reserves are essential in order for the governments to be able to withstand the inevitable “rainy days” that result from revenue fluctuations and unexpected expenditures. Without a fund balance in place…
