The City of Chicago recently released its Budget Forecast for FY2020, which provides financial estimates for the City’s fiscal year ending on December 31, 2019 and a forecast for the next fiscal year and following two years. This is the first forecast produced by Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration since she took office in May 2019. The Forecast was released shortly after the Mayor’s State of the City Address where she laid out the financial challenges facing the City and how she hopes to…
As part of the $45 billion capital bill passed by the Illinois General Assembly in early June 2019, and pending the Governor’s signature, the State’s tax on cigarettes and e-cigarettes will increase starting on July 1. The State of Illinois tax on cigarettes will increase by $1.00 from $1.98 per pack of 20 cigarettes to $2.98 per pack. The State will also start imposing a new 15% tax on the sale of electronic cigarettes. These hikes are estimated to bring in $156 million for the State annually…
During Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s first City Council meeting on May 29, 2019, new City Council Rules and Procedures were adopted by the Council. Also introduced was an ordinance amending the 2019 Annual Appropriation Ordinance to appropriate nearly $393,000 for audio and visual equipment to allow for the livestreaming of committee meetings. For the past several years in blog posts and its annual analysis of the City’s budget, the Civic Federation has advocated for the City of Chicago to livestream…
The following blog post discusses how the City of Chicago has used surplus revenue in its tax increment financing (TIF) districts since 2013. TIF is a powerful economic development tool for the City of Chicago, particularly at a time when capital and development funding from the State of Illinois and federal government has been scarce. One out of every four properties in the City is in a TIF district and in 2017 the City of Chicago collected over $660 million in TIF revenue, nearly one-third…
On March 13, 2019 the Chicago City Council voted to approve Substitute Resolution 2018-1151. The Resolution amends Rules 49 and 55 of the City Council Rules of Order to require committee hearings to be broadcasted or aired via the Internet. The resolution is scheduled to go into effect on September 30, 2019, “contingent on the availability of funds, duly appropriated by ordinance, sufficient for the purposes stated herein.”[1] Meetings will be streamed on the City Clerk’s website. For the past…
Click here to read the full report. Click here to read the press release for this report. AT A GLANCE The Civic Federation released this report in advance of the April 2, 2019 Chicago municipal election for consideration by the public and candidates for Mayor, Treasurer, Aldermanic Office and the City Clerk. The report details the City of Chicago’s major financial challenges, as well as options and recommendations to stabilize the City’s financial position. SUMMARY In April 2019…
The following blog post explores the idea of a downtown congestion fee and the factors that would need to be considered if Chicago were to impose such a fee. The Civic Federation does not take a position on any type of congestion pricing or whether it should be implemented in Chicago. This blog post is intended for informational purposes only. According to the Federal Highway Administration, there are four types of congestion pricing strategies: Variably priced lanes: variable toll rates on…
The following blog post examines the possibility of the City of Chicago starting a public bank. It is intended for informational purposes only. The Civic Federation has not taken a position on the idea, which has been discussed during the run-up to the Chicago municipal election later this month. A public bank is a financial institution owned and operated by a government on behalf of its citizens. It can be used to provide loans to governments for economic development projects and/or invest in…
Click here to read this issue brief. This annual brief provides a compilation of selected consumer taxes, including rates and descriptions, in place in the City of Chicago as of January 1, 2019. The taxes in this report are grouped under the following categories: sales taxes, tobacco-related taxes, beverage-related taxes, utility-related taxes, accommodations-related taxes, transportation-related taxes and other taxes.
Click here to read the full report. Click here to read the press release for this analysis. AT A GLANCE This annual report compares estimated effective property tax rates in the six-county region of northeastern Illinois between 2007 and 2016, the last year for which data are available. Effective tax rates increased for all selected communities in the ten-year period analyzed. MAJOR FINDINGS Effective property tax rates are a measure of property tax burden…
