After a yearlong stalemate, the State of Illinois finally saw a crack in its ongoing budget impasse on the last day of the fiscal year. The General Assembly rushed approval of bills authorizing a full year of preschool through high school education funding, including additional assistance for the Chicago Public Schools, along with a partial spending plan for other government services to cover…
In April 2016, the Illinois Department of Revenue announced that it discovered a misallocation totaling an estimated $168 million in extra Personal Property Replacement Taxes (PPRT) distributed to 6,527 local government taxing entities throughout Illinois. This misallocation equals 6% of the total $2.8 billion PPRT payments made to local governments in tax years 2014 and 2015. Each local…
This article reports on the City of Chicago’s record property tax increase and how it will affect City homeowners this year. Laurence Msall, President of the Civic federation, notes that with Chicago’s historic underfunding of pensions, Cook County taxpayers are likely to face increased property taxes for the indefinite future.
This article reports on a City of Chicago plan to create a property tax rebate to lower the tax burden to City homeowners. Laurence Msall, President of the Civic Federation, says it’s difficult to see how Chicago can afford a property tax rebate plan with its current financial issues and notes that there are more effective alternatives.
This segment reports on the Illinois General Assembly overriding Governor Rauner’s veto of pension reforms for the City of Chicago’s police and fire pension funds and on the short and long-term effects of the legislation. Laurence Msall, President of the Civic Federation, says the reforms will ease financial pressure for City taxpayers in the short-term and give the Mayor more flexibility going…
The Illinois Department of Revenue announced earlier this spring that the final equalization factor for the Cook County 2015 property assessment year (taxes payable in 2016) is 2.6685. The 2015 final equalization factor of 2.6685 is less than the final 2014 equalization factor of 2.7253. This does not mean that property taxes will go up or down. It means that, overall, the weighted average level…
This article reports on the City of Chicago’s recent agreement with the Laborers Pension Fund to save the fund from insolvency through a combination of union concessions and revenue from telephone tax increases. Laurence Msall, President of the Civic Federation, says that the new reforms could be the start of improvements for the City’s pension funds.
This segment discusses the State of Illinois’ almost year-long budget impasse and how the expiration of the 2011 temporary income tax hike in 2015 has affected the State’s finances. Civic Federation President Laurence Msall remarks that Illinois never had a plan for the expiration of the temporary income tax or how the State would handle the huge decrease in revenues.
This article explains that the City of Chicago has yet to provide alternative reforms for two of its pension funds after an Illinois Supreme Court ruling overturned the City’s previous reform plan. Civic Federation President Laurence Msall says the Illinois Supreme Court leaves open the possibility of future benefit changes but has not provided firm direction on how the Illinois General Assembly…
This editorial reports on findings included in the Civic Federation’s recent analysis of Governor Rauner’s FY2017 proposed budget and discusses the budget’s issues. The Editorial Board says the Federation’s analysis is correct in its conclusion that parts of the Governor’s proposed spending plan are imprudent and unrealistic.
