City of Chicago

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Higher Tax Rates in Effect for Chicago Tobacco Consumers

Since the Civic Federation’s last blog on changes to taxes imposed on tobacco purchases, Chicago area local governments have increased tobacco…

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How Well Do Chicago Area Local Government Capital Improvement Plans Follow Best Practices?

As a follow-up to the Capital Planning Overview, this blog post summarizes information contained in the Civic Federation’s FY2014…

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2013 Year in Review on Civic Federation Blog

The following posts were among the most highly read on the Civic Federation blog in 2013 and represent some of the most closely followed local government issues this year:…

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Civic Federation Budget Recommendations for Chicago-Area Local Governments

Last week the Civic Federation marked the end of the FY2014 budget season with a blog that summarized the proposed budgets for the eight local governments the Federation…

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FY2014 Budget Season Summary

Last week marked the end of the FY2014 budget season for the eight local governments monitored…

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Estimated Effective Property Tax Rates 2002-2011: Selected Municipalities in Northeastern Illinois

This report compares effective property tax rates in selected communities around metropolitan Chicago. The Civic Federation found mixed results across the region for effective tax rates in 2011 with rises in tax rates for all of the collar…

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Chicago City Council Adopts Ordinance to Create Independent Budget Office

On December 11, 2013, the City Council approved an ordinance to establish the City…

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How are Local Governments Able to Access Extra Property Tax Revenue from Expiring TIF Districts?

Over the last several years, several local governments in the Chicago area have taken advantage of a provision of the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law (PTELL or “tax caps”) that allows governments to increase their revenue beyond what…

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Civic Federation Position Statement on Proposed City Council Office of Financial Analysis

The Civic Federation strongly supports the proposal to create an Office of Financial Analysis for the Chicago City Council. Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s proposed FY2014 budget includes funding for an Office of Financial Analysis to help vet…

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Report Shows Chicago's Finances Fared Poorly Relative to Other Large U.S. Cities from FY2007 to FY2011

Over the past few years, the Civic Federation has blogged about financial indicators that can be used to measure the fiscal condition of local governments. The blogs were…