On June 27, 2013, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle released a report on preliminary budget estimates for fiscal year 2014, which begins on December 1, 2013 and ends November 30…
This week the Civic Federation released its annual Status of Local Pension Funding report. The purpose of this report is to compile and analyze basic…
Chicago-area public employee pension funding levels dropped significantly in FY2011, with unfunded liabilities for the ten funds analyzed rising to $32.0 billion from $27.4 billion in FY2010, an increase of 16.7% according to the most…
This blog examines some of the long-term obligations of the City of Chicago and its overlapping local governments using a per capita indicator based on bonded debt and unfunded pension liabilities. Rating agencies and other financial…
This report compares effective property tax rates in selected communities around metropolitan Chicago and finds that effective tax rates in 2010 for residential and commercial properties rose for each of the 32 municipalities studied.…
On July 1, 2008, a one percent sales tax increase went into effect in Cook County raising the home-rule tax from 0.75% to 1.75%. The increase brought the City of Chicago’s composite sales tax rate on general merchandise to 10.25%, the…
A look back at the Civic Federation’s blog this year provides a preview of upcoming fiscal challenges for local governments in 2013. Pension Funding The most urgent fiscal challenge for Illinois governments continues to be the pension…
