A report released by the Cook County Clerk last month found that revenue from TIF districts increased to a record $1.6 billion for FY2021, including approximately $1.2 billion from the City of Chicago and approximately $361 million from suburban Cook County. The $1.6 billion total accounts for a 7.4% increase from FY2020 and represents 9.4% of billed property taxes in the County. In total, nine TIF districts were closed in 2021 (most of which were in the suburbs) that had generated a collective…
This blog examines online reporting of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) spending and performance measures by major U.S. cities. A key component of ARPA was a $350 billion infusion of federal funding to state, local and Tribal governments nationwide to support their pandemic recovery through the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF). The U.S. Department of Treasury outlined permissible uses of SLFRF funds, including replacement of lost revenues, addressing negative economic…
On November 7, 2022, the Chicago City Council voted to pass the Mayor’s proposed FY2023 budget of $16.4 billion. The FY2023 Proposed Budget was released in October 2022 and included a significant increase in projected revenue for both FY2023 and FY2022 from the annual Budget Forecast released two months prior in August 2022. This blog post will explore the differences in the projections between the Forecast and the FY2023 budget proposal. The Civic Federation’s full analysis of the proposed…
Click here to read the full report. Click here to read the press release for this analysis. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Civic Federation supports Mayor Lightfoot’s proposed FY2023 budget of $11.8 billion across all local funds, excluding grants and capital. The City of Chicago’s economic recovery has generated significant revenue growth in the current fiscal year and the projected continuation of those trends next year will allow it to balance the budget without a general property tax increase and…
The City of Chicago introduced the Mayor’s proposed FY2023 budget in early October, and the City Council will vote on a final budget in November. This blog post takes a look at what’s in the FY2023 budget proposal in the area of public safety spending. The Civic Federation is analyzing the budget as a whole and will release our complete analysis later this month. The City of Chicago’s Public Safety departments include the following seven departments: Police Department; Fire Department; Office…
As part of the American Rescue Plan Act’s (ARPA’s) $350 million federal investment into Fiscal Recovery Funds at the state and local levels, the City of Chicago received a $1.9 billion infusion under the Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (LFRF) to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] In compliance with Treasury Department guidelines, the City developed and released in September 2021 a comprehensive plan to “create an equity-based investment strategy to catalyze a sustainable economic…
On August 10, 2022, the City of Chicago released its annual Budget Forecast for FY2023. The Forecast provides financial estimates for the City’s current fiscal year ending December 31, 2022 and a forecast for the next three fiscal years. This was the fourth forecast produced by the Lightfoot administration pursuant to Executive Order No. 2019-3, which requires the financial forecast to be released no later than August 31 of each year. The forecast includes a general economic outlook, year-end…
The criminal justice system in Illinois is comprised of a multitude of different agencies and systems. This blog post will focus on the departments that make up the key criminal justice system agencies within Chicago and the State of Illinois, including agencies from three levels of government: municipal (City of Chicago), county (Cook County) and state (the State of Illinois). Each agency plays a role in the criminal legal system, although many criminal justice system agencies are…
This blog post provides a high-level overview of personnel within the Chicago Police Department (CPD). The information presented includes both budgeted data based on the City of Chicago’s annual FY2022 budget and active, assigned sworn officer data based on public safety data dashboards available on the Office of Inspector General website. Budgeted CPD Personnel The Chicago Police Department has a total of 14,058 personnel positions budgeted across all funds in FY2022, including both sworn…
Bring Chicago Home, a grassroots coalition dedicated to securing an earmarked revenue stream to combat homelessness, has launched a campaign to put a referendum on the City of Chicago ballot asking voters to approve an increase in the Chicago real estate transfer tax (RETT) for high-end properties selling for over $1 million. Properties valued at less than $1 million would continue to be taxed at current rates. Changes to the current tax must be approved by voters in a referendum or through a…
