01.22.21
The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) released a $3.4 billion, five year FY2021-FY2025 capital plan in October 2020. The CTA prepares a multi-year, comprehensive capital improvement plan (CIP)...
Blogs
01.11.21
Annually the Civic Federation 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 onto consumers by businesses or governments....
01.06.21
UPDATE : In the final hours of the lame duck session on January 13, the Illinois General Assembly passed legislation providing for spending up to $150 million annually through fiscal year 2027 to modernize safety net hospitals....
12.31.20
The following are excerpts or summaries of the five most read posts presented on the Civic Federation’s blog in 2020* in chronological order. The posts examine issues related to local taxes and budgets and the State of Illinois’ proposal for...
12.23.20
Cook County government has historically kept its property tax levy relatively flat, especially when compared to the other largest government bodies in Cook County including the City of Chicago and Chicago Public Schools, both of which have...
12.14.20
UPDATE : The $900 billion relief bill passed by Congress on December 21 did not provide more financial assistance for state and local governments, but it did extend for about one year...
12.11.20
This blog post provides an update on the status of the City of Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport $8.5 billion modernization project in 2020.
The COVID-19 pandemic has seriously depressed air traffic around the world, reducing airline and airport revenues and raising questions about...
11.24.20
On November 18, 2020, the City of Chicago released a multi-year capital plan for FY2021 through FY2025. The plan totals $11.7 billion over the 5-year period. This is a 36.5%, or...
11.20.20
Illinois has lost less tax revenue than expected this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the State still faces a significant budget gap, according to the latest official projection.
The Governor’s annual...
11.12.20
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposed budget for the fiscal year starting January 1, 2021 includes a property tax increase of $93.9 million for a total property tax levy of $1.6 billion. This blog post will explore the three component parts of the increase.
The City of Chicago, as a...
11.06.20
The City of Chicago expects year-end general operating revenues to be 20.6% below budget by the end of the current 2020 fiscal year, according to the City’s FY2021 budget proposal . As described in a...
10.30.20
The full market value of real estate in Cook County was $609.6 billion in tax assessment year 2018 according to an annual estimate released by the Civic Federation today. The 2018 estimates represent the sixth year in a...
10.23.20
10.16.20
With the City of Chicago facing a $1.2 billion budget deficit heading into the next fiscal year and calls from community advocates for more funding for violence prevention and social services, the current situation begs the question of whether cuts can be made in the Police Department budget,...
10.09.20
The State of Illinois’ FY2020 fourth quarter revenue report contained a surprising result for two of the State of Illinois’ three main...