Civic Federation President Laurence Msall is interviewed in this news segment about proposed expansion in gaming in the State of Illinois. He warns that statewide video poker, despite being approved 18 months ago, has not yet resulted in any revenue for Illinois’ coffers.
This article follows a debate in the suburban community of Niles over whether to allow video gaming within city limits. The Civic Federation says that it opposes video gaming because it is an unreliable source of revenue for governments.
In this article about the Chicago City Council’s approval of Mayor Daley’s FY2011 City of Chicago budget of $6.15 billion, the Civic Federation warns that the next mayor will need to make major cuts to cope with the City’s pension liabilities.
This article is about the approval of the FY2011 City of Chicago budget by the Chicago City Council. The Civic Federation points out that with passage of the budget, the City will have spent nearly 81% of the proceeds from $2.98 billion in asset lease deals.
State of Illinois officials want to tighten procedures for Medicaid by using electronic data to verify eligibility—a step also viewed as crucial to deal with the surge in Medicaid enrollment expected under federal healthcare reform. On November 29, 2010, Julie Hamos, Director of the Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS), told a committee of the Illinois Senate that HFS needs to cross…
The Civic Federation supports the Chicago Park District’s FY2011 proposed operating budget of $397.6 million. The District is proposing to hold the property tax levy flat and maintain expenditures at close to FY2010 levels by using operating efficiencies and personnel cuts. The District is also proposing to eliminate its $22.0 million budget deficit in part by using $12.0 million of TIF surplus…
The Chicago Park District is to be commended for holding its property tax levy flat for the sixth straight year, says a Civic Federation report released today. The District will rely on non-tax revenues and a slight cut in staffing levels to balance its proposed FY2011 budget of $397.6 million. While the Federation commends the District’s restraint, it is also concerned that an ongoing reliance…
The Civic Federation released today its analysis of the Chicago Park District’s proposed FY2011 budget of $397.6 million. The Federation supported the District’s budget, which represents an increase of only 1.5% from the previous year. The District is continuing to successfully pursue non-tax revenues, is holding the property tax levy flat for the sixth straight year and will have a…
The operating budget enacted by the State of Illinois for FY2011 is based on General Funds revenues projected to be slightly higher than last year’s, and so far actual monthly revenues appear to be on target to meet or exceed these expectations. This increase signals the State’s hope that FY2011 will be a transition year for economically sensitive revenues such as income taxes and sales taxes…
(CHICAGO) The final installment in the Civic Federation’s four-part educational series describing and evaluating the Cook County property tax system was published today. “The growing complexity of the property tax system in Cook County challenges even the most well-intended citizen,” said Laurence Msall, president of the Civic Federation. “With this series of primers, the Federation aims to…
