Updated August 5, 2010 to reflect revised data from the Illinois Department of Revenue CHICAGO – The full market value of real estate in Cook County was approximately $616.2 billion in tax year 2008 according to an annual estimate released today by the Civic Federation. This total value represents a decline of $40.3 billion, or 6.1%, from the 2007 estimated full value. Tax year 2008 is the most recent year for which data is available. “The ten-year trend shows that the estimated full value…
Despite a $2 billion drop in the State’s annual revenues in FY2010 , the General Assembly passed Governor Pat Quinn's proposal to provide a back-to-school sales tax holiday for Illinois consumers as part of the FY2011 budget. The State charges a composite rate of 6.25% on consumer purchases of most general merchandise from retailers in Illinois, but only 5% of that rate is the State’s share. The State also collects then passes along 1.0% for municipalities and .25% for county governments. The…
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…
On June 15, 2010 the Chicago Board of Education approved measures to cope with the school district’s estimated $600 million deficit for the coming school year. The measures include authorizing the establishment of an $800 million line of credit to cover delayed state payments and authorizing CEO Ron Huberman to increase class sizes to 35 students if necessary. Could Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district revenues held by the City of Chicago be used to reduce the deficit and prevent…
The State of Illinois is not the only cash-strapped state that shied away from major tax increases to improve its financial condition in FY2011. According to Stateline.org, most states avoided raising significant revenue and instead patched together FY2011 budgets by finding a few new items to tax, curtailing spending and relying on federal stimulus dollars. So far only Kansas and Arizona have raised their sales tax rates this year, according to Stateline, a daily online publication of the Pew…
Last week the Illinois General Assembly adjourned for the summer. The House and the Senate sent numerous bills to Illinois Governor Pat Quinn to either sign or veto. One such bill is Senate Bill 580, which would restructure the existing DuPage Water Commission. The DuPage Water Commission operates and finances the systems required to bring Lake Michigan water service to communities located in DuPage County. Beginning in 1955 with the Tree Towns Commission and expanding into its current form,…
This article is about Mayor Daley’s plans to hold the City of Chicago’s property tax levy flat for next year’s budget. The Civic Federation says the City should explore options other than increasing taxes to balance its budget in the current recession.
The Chicago School Finance Authority (SFA) is scheduled to be officially dissolved on June 1, 2010. The SFA is a separate unit of government created in 1980 by the Illinois General Assembly and charged with “promoting the financial integrity” of the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) (see the School Finance Authority statute, 105 ILCS 5/34A). In the wake of CPS’s 1979/1980 financial crisis, the Authority was directed to exercise financial control over and furnish financial assistance to the Chicago…
