The Civic Federation released its annual Consumer Tax Rates Report in March, which lists and describes selected consumer taxes within the City of Chicago, including the complicated way the hotel operators’ tax is calculated and why. This blog post will explain in detail the hotel operators’ tax history and dissect the tax rate calculation for FY2023. Hotel Tax Rates and History The State hotel…
On February 15, 2023, Governor Pritzker released the State of Illinois FY2024 Operating and Capital Budgets. The proposed budget noted revenue collections post-pandemic have continued to exceed expectations. This strong performance has prompted the both the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget (GOMB) and the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA), the fiscal…
The State of Illinois FY2024 budget proposed by Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, reflects the State’s strong financial position following its economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The State has taken positive steps over the past several years to eliminate $4.5 billion in debt from the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, pay back $3.2 billion in federal Municipal Liquidity borrowing, pay down…
On February 3, 2022, Attorney General Raoul announced that the State of Illinois and local governments that signed on to the agreement will receive a total of $760 million of the $26 billion national opioid settlement with Johnson & Johnson and three opioid distributors over the next 18 years. The Attorney General has since announced a number of other settlements reached, in coalition with…
The Civic Federation annually releases a report on consumer taxes in the City of Chicago, which will be released next month. 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…
The Illinois General Assembly passed a series of amendments during veto session in early December to the SAFE-T (Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity – Today) Act, the criminal justice omnibus law enacted in early 2021. The SAFE-T Act (Public Act 101-0652) was originally passed by the Illinois General Assembly in January 2021 and signed by Governor Pritzker in February 2021. For details of…
On November 14, 2022, the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget (GOMB) released the Illinois Economic and Fiscal Policy Report. The report includes changes to the FY2023 enacted budget revenue forecast and a five-year budgetary forecast. The FY2023 Enacted Budget On April 19, 2022, Governor JB Pritzker signed the State’s FY2023 budget, which consists of three bills, into law. The budget…
A report recently released by the Civic Federation highlights the current processes in Cook County bond court, including how often judges require payment of money as a condition of bail. The study, conducted in partnership with the League of Women Voters of Cook County, found that despite narratives to the contrary, cash bail is still widely used in Cook County. Another report recently released…
Last year, the Civic Federation worked in partnership with the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts (AOIC) and the Illinois Supreme Court’s Pretrial Implementation Task Force to release a report that measures the financial impact that the elimination of cash bail in Illinois will have on counties and circuit court clerks throughout the state. This week, the AOIC and the Task Force…
The Commission on Governmental Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA) has released a new report on gaming in Illinois. The report provides a comprehensive look at all forms of legally sanctioned wagering in the state, including casino gambling, horse racing, video gaming, the Lottery and now sports betting. In FY2022, the State of Illinois collected nearly $1.9 billion in total gaming revenues.[…
