This report compares effective property tax rates in selected communities around metropolitan Chicago and finds that while all communities’ effective tax rates increased in 2008, rates have mostly declined since 1999. The report also finds that Chicago’s effective tax rates are still regionally competitive and the lowest of any of the selected Cook County municipalities. Read the press release for this report here.
At a Cook County Board of Commissioners meeting, held on June 15, 2010, Cook County Commissioner Joseph Moreno called on County staff members to explain a series of errors in the meeting’s agenda, noting a lengthy list of deletions, insertions and corrections to what should have been the final agenda. During the discussion that ensued, Commissioners revealed their dissatisfaction with the frequent alterations to the agenda and numerous errors in the matters taken up at board meetings. In…
On July 14, 2010, Cook County Commissioners approved by a vote of 9 to 3 a strategic plan to reorient the County’s health system more toward outpatient care and away from inpatient hospital services. The five-year plan calls for closing the emergency room and inpatient facilities at Oak Forest Hospital. At Provident Hospital, the emergency room would remain open, but most inpatient beds would be eliminated. Savings from these steps would be used to expand outpatient services across the County’s…
The Illinois Department of Revenue has announced that the tentative equalization factor for the Cook County 2009 property assessment year (taxes payable in late 2010) is 3.1062. The final equalization factor cannot be calculated until the Cook County Board of Review has finished hearing appeals and has certified the final assessments for 2009. That process may take several more weeks or months to complete. What is the equalization factor and why do we need it? Inter-county…
The sales tax rate on general merchandise in Cook County declines by 0.5 percentage point on July 1, 2010. This rolls back half of the 1.0 percentage point increase imposed by the Cook County Board of Commissioners effective July 1, 2008. For two years Chicago has had the highest sales tax of any major city in the United States. The partial roll back of the Cook County sales tax increase will bring Chicago back down from 10.25% to 9.75%, on par with Los Angeles. The Illinois…
Last month the State of Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA) released a report entitled “Sales Tax in Illinois.". According to the report, in FY2009 general revenue fund sales tax collections totaled $6.77 billion, down 6.1% from $7.21 billion in the prior fiscal year. It is estimated that general revenue fund sales tax collections will continue to decline in FY2010, falling 8.5% from the FY2009 level.[1] In its report COGFA highlights the…
In a victory for good government, the Cook County Board of Commissioners on June 1, 2010 voted 13-3 to make permanent the independent Board of Directors overseeing the Cook County Health and Hospitals System (Health System). Without action by Commissioners, the independent Board would have expired in February of 2011. The Civic Federation, a long-time supporter of the independent Board, was the only group testifying in favor of making it a permanent part of Cook County government. The Civic…
Each year the Civic Federation publishes an analysis of Cook County’s proposed Executive Budget (see e.g. Cook County FY2010 Proposed Budget: Analysis and Recommendations). As part of each report, we make recommendations on how to improve Cook County government. Some of our previous recommendations have included the implementation of a long-term financial planning process, limiting annual personnel compensation increases to 3% per year or the Consumer Price Index rate and outsourcing…
The ordinance that established the Cook County Health and Hospitals System (Health System) in 2008 specifically granted its independent Board of Directors the authority to participate in purchasing consortia. At a meeting on April 30, 2010, the Board reaffirmed its right to award a contract through such a purchasing group, despite objections from two Commissioners of the Cook County Board. The contract before the Health System’s Board involved the provision of laundry and linen services at…
In Cook County, township government often gets overlooked amidst the various local governments including municipalities, school districts, park districts, community college districts and others. In order to shed light on this largely unexamined unit of government, the Civic Federation has created a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) that provides information about the basics of township government in Cook County. Part 1 of the list describes the basic functions and structure of…
