As described last week in the Civic Federation’s blog, the Chicago City Council recently approved an ordinance changing the City’s tiered parking tax rates to percentage-based rates of 18% on weekends and 20% on weekdays effective July 1, 2013. Yesterday, the Cook County Board of Commissioners approved similar changes to their parking tax ordinance. Effective September 1, 2013, the County’s parking tax will change from a tiered rate system to percentage-based rates of 6% for periods of 24 hours…
On March 8, 2013, Governor Quinn signed HB5547, which gave home-rule municipalities and counties with populations over 2,000,000 (essentially Chicago and Cook County) the ability to tax parking garages by percentage rather than by a flat tax. Soon after, Chicago’s City Council approved changes to the City’s parking garage tax system accordingly. Cook County is in the process of making similar changes. On April 8th, the Finance Committee of the City Council approved an ordinance changing…
As noted in last week’s blog post, two City of Chicago tax increment financing (TIF) districts will be extended for another 12 years if Governor Quinn signs Senate Bill 20, a large economic development bill, into law. The two TIF districts, the Michigan/Cermak TIF and the Midwest TIF, are located on the near south side and west side of Chicago. This blog will focus on the two districts. For more on how TIF districts are extended, read last week’s blog. Of the two districts, only one was set to…
In the latest session of the General Assembly, the Illinois legislature approved extensions of two Chicago-area tax increment financing (TIF) districts. This blog explains what happens when TIF districts are set to expire and what local governments gain and lose from expirations and extensions. Next week, the Civic Federation blog will explore the specifics of the approved legislation. TIF Districts Tax increment financing (TIF) is a financial mechanism that is widely used by municipalities…
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 financial data of the retirement funds for the City of Chicago (four separate funds – Municipal, Laborers’, Police and Fire), Chicago Park District, Chicago Public Schools (Teachers’ Fund), Cook County, Forest Preserve District of Cook County, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) and Chicago Transit Authority (CTA). [1] The report…
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 recent audited data available. For all pension funds supported by the taxes of Chicago residents, including statewide funds, the total unfunded liabilities reached $16,914 per Chicago resident in FY2011. On average, the ten funds analyzed had an actuarial funding…
On Monday April 29th, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced that an agreement had been reached in the disputes between the City of Chicago and Chicago Parking Meters LLC (CPM), whose investors include Morgan Stanley, Allianz Capital Partners and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. The agreement potentially determines how much the City owes to CPM for lost revenue of meters altered for City use. Additionally, an arbitration panel settled a separate dispute between CPM and the City with regard to disabled…
On February 20, 2012 Mayor Emanuel released the City of Chicago’s first quarterly budget report in order “to ensure more transparency and honesty in the City’s budgeting process.” The reports track the City’s revenues and expenditures as they align with the budget. They also include updates on major initiatives implemented through the budget process. Recently the City released the budget report for the fourth quarter of 2012 which presents the most up-to-date financial numbers available. The…
This blog continues the Civic Federation’s examination of indicators that can be used to measure the financial health of local governments. In order to measure financial condition, it is important to assess the direction and magnitude of changing ratios over time. The Federation is analyzing the five most recent Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports (CAFR) of thirteen large U.S. cities, most of which have also been the subject of analysis by the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Philadelphia Research…
After the City and leadership of the Chicago Police Sergeants’ union agreed to a tentative contract that included pay raises and significant pension reforms, rank-and-file union members rejected the contract by a vote of 876-134 earlier this week. The contract would have been the first significant implementation of Mayor Emanuel’s outline of pension reforms from last spring and a first step toward reducing the enormous costs of the City’s pension system. The rejected contract included 9…
