December 28, 2018
The following are the five most read posts presented by the Civic Federation blog in 2018 in chronological order. The posts examine issues related to property taxes, Chicago Public Schools and jail population data.
A Summary of Tax Changes in Chicago in 2018
January 4, 2018
The Civic Federation annually releases a report on consumer taxes in the City of Chicago. This January 2018 blog post previewed the report by highlighting new consumer taxes approved in 2017 to take effect in 2018. The post also examined changes to several taxes that were approved in 2017.
Cook County Sheriff Expands Disclosure of Jail Data
January 10, 2018
In December 2017, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart’s office started posting daily reports showing the number of detainees in each jail building and in the jail community. The increased disclosure followed release of a Civic Federation report that called attention to the difficulty numerous organizations have had in obtaining data about the jail population. This blog post explored the newly posted data and jail population trends.
Update on the Chicago Public Schools’ Fiscal Year 2018 Finances
March 30, 2018
This blog post offered a mid-fiscal year update on the finances of Chicago Public Schools. As noted in the blog, a historic new school funding formula from the State of Illinois and additional funding for Chicago teachers’ pensions from the City of Chicago helped the District’s operating budget significantly. However, CPS still remains challenged with severe financial problems due to its reliance on short-term borrowing, its long-term debt burden and increasing pension costs.
The Civic Federation published a full review of CPS’ FY2019 proposed budget in July 2018.
The Final 2017 Cook County Equalization Factor is 2.9627
May 31, 2018
The Illinois Department of Revenue announced in April 2018 that the final equalization factor for the Cook County 2017 property assessment year (taxes payable in 2018) was 2.9627. Following the announcement, this blog post explained the significance of the 2017 equalization factor’s value in relation to the 2016 equalization factor and why Cook County uses an equalization factor in the first place.
2017 Cook County Property Taxes Rates Report Released and Second Installment Property Tax Bills Mailed
July 13, 2018
Cook County Clerk David Orr’s office released the 2017 Cook County Tax Rates report on June 20, 2018 and shortly after, Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas mailed the second installment of the 2017 tax bills. This blog post explored how property tax rates are calculated and the impact tax rates can have on individual property tax bills.