08.05.22
Last week, Civic Federation Vice President and Research Director Sarah Wetmore successfully led the Annual Conference of the Governmental Research Association (GRA) in Philadelphia alongside Jeff Hornstein of the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia. This was Sarah’s final year serving as...
07.29.22
This blog post examines the Chicago Public Schools’ contributions to the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund in the FY2023 budget and the funding status of the Pension Fund based on financial health indicators. Additional descriptive...
07.22.22
The criminal justice system in Illinois is comprised of a multitude of different agencies and systems. This blog post will focus on the departments that make up the key criminal justice system agencies within Chicago and the State of Illinois, including agencies from three levels of government:...
07.15.22
The Civic Federation recently released its analysis of the Chicago Public Schools proposed FY2023 budget. The Federation opposed the budget because the...
07.08.22
07.01.22
On June 23, 2022, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle issued a preliminary budget forecast for fiscal year 2023. The fiscal year begins December 1, 2022 and ends November 30, 2023. The report provides end-of-year estimates for the current 2022 fiscal year and a forecast for the upcoming...
06.23.22
CPS student enrollment has been declining annually for the past two decades. In a recent analysis of the Chicago Public Schools proposed FY2023 budget, the Civic Federation highlighted this trend. Specifically, the Federation...
06.17.22
The Civic Federation’s Annual Civic Awards Luncheon, now in its 40th year, recognizes civic leadership in Chicago. Named for the Federation’s founding members, the Lyman J. Gage Award and the Addams-Palmer Award recognize the outstanding civic contributions of Chicago individuals and...
06.10.22
Bring Chicago Home , a grassroots coalition dedicated to securing an earmarked revenue stream to combat homelessness, has launched a campaign to put a referendum on the City of Chicago ballot asking voters to approve an increase in...
06.03.22
With new data released by the Office of the Chief Judge of the Cook County Circuit Court earlier this year, a more complete understanding of the number of people...
05.27.22
On April 9, 2022 the Illinois General Assembly passed the three bills that comprise the FY2023 budget and FY2022 supplemental appropriations. On April 19 the Governor signed the bills into law. The FY2023 budget was passed nearly two months earlier than in previous years because the State’s...
05.20.22
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has selected Bally’s Corporation to develop a mega casino in the River West neighborhood at the site of the Chicago Tribune’s current printing plant at Chicago and Halsted Avenues. In addition to the casino, Bally’s proposes the development of a theater, an outdoor...
05.24.22
Update (May 24, 2022): The Cook County Finance Committee held a special meeting on the elected officials’ salary ordinance and approved the salary increases laid out in...
05.05.22
The Civic Federation recently released its annual estimate of the full value of property in Cook County in tax year 2019 . While the Federation’s estimate of the full value has grown each year since the trough in 2012,...
04.14.22
This blog post presents an overview of the Chicago Transit Authority’s FY2022 operating budget, including a summary of how federal stimulus funds were used to balance the budget, and an update on its recent $350 million debt issuance.
The Chicago Transit Authority, like other transit...
