The Illinois Department of Revenue has announced that the tentative equalization factor for the Cook County 2010 property assessment year (taxes payable in 2011) is 3.1773. 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 2010. That process may take several more weeks or months to complete. What is the equalization factor and why do we need it? Inter-county equalization (…
Despite a significant increase in Illinois’ corporate income tax rate enacted in January 2011, much of the anticipated new State revenue will be offset by corporate tax incentives provided in recent changes to the federal tax code. Known as bonus depreciation, the federal rule allows businesses to take an upfront deduction for the cost of capital investments in machinery or equipment from their annual taxable income. The amount of corporate income that is taxable on the state level in Illinois…
This article discusses tax incentives provided to Libertyville, Illinois business Motorola Mobility by the State of Illinois to encourage the company to keep its headquarters in Illinois. The Civic Federation says the deal is a good one because the State must gain economic strength in order to stabilize its finances.
Chicago Public Schools' possible plan to bridge a budget deficit and avoid layoffs by raising its property tax is the focus of this article. The Civic Federation says that the District must demonstrate that it has done everything it can to balance its budget before turning to the last resort of raising its property tax.
Although the State of Illinois' FY2011 tax amnesty program brought in more than $700 million of delinquent tax payments owed by taxpayers and business, only $12 million of that revenue can be considered new funds. As previously discussed on this blog, the tax amnesty program approved by the Governor and General Assembly allowed payment of personal income tax, corporate income tax and sales tax owed to the State from previous years without the usual interest and penalties charged for late…
This article discusses how Cook County property tax exemptions can drastically influence the amount a property owner ultimately pays in taxes. The article cites the Civic Federation’s Cook County property tax system position report, which said the current system creates additional paperwork and audit procedures.
In this blog post, Greg Hinz discusses the conclusions of the Civic Federation's "Cook County Modernization 100-Day Accountability Report." The Federation found that administration of County Board President Toni Preckwinkle has made considerable progress in modernizing operations, but still faces significant challenges over the next few years.
Concerns Remain about Independence of the Health System, Future Budgets (CHICAGO) A new Civic Federation report released today finds that Cook County has made considerable progress toward modernizing its operations, but still faces significant challenges over the next few years. The Cook County Modernization 100-Day Accountability Report is in follow up to the Federation’s October 2010 Cook County Modernization Report. The new publication assesses the progress the Preckwinkle administration has…
The Civic Federation’s Cook County Modernization 100-Day Accountability Report continues the work of our Cook County Modernization Project. This report includes detailed information on the status of all 36 recommendations from the Civic Federation’s Cook County Modernization Report (published in October 2010), as well as a dashboard rating system for recommendations that were to be implemented within the first 100 days under the leadership of Board President Preckwinkle. Cook County has made…
Today marks the 100th day since Toni Preckwinkle took office as President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners. During that time, the County has begun to implement a variety of reforms including many of the recommendations from the Civic Federation’s Cook County Modernization Report. The administration released a 100-day report card this morning, which highlights what the administration considers to be its key accomplishments. The Civic Federation began its Cook County Modernization…
