Data from the most recent audited financial statements of Illinois’ state and local government pension funds shows that the total unfunded liabilities for public employee pensions supported by the taxes of Chicago residents reached $14,896 per capita for fiscal year 2010. That is up from $10,037 per capita in FY2008. Property taxes paid by Chicago residents (both owners and renters) support the four pension funds for City of Chicago employees as well as the pension funds for employees of the…
Chicago residents will experience changes in a number of consumer taxes going into effect throughout 2012 as a result of policy changes at the City and County levels. The new consumer tax rates are presented in the exhibit below. Following the table are explanations for each of the consumer taxes and historical changes to their rates. Sales Taxes “Sales” taxes in Illinois are actually composed of two matching pairs of taxes: retailers’ occupation and use taxes and service occupation and…
In 2011 the Civic Federation blog provided weekly context, information and perspective on government budgets and fiscal issues across Illinois. Posts in 2011 focused on FY2012 local government budget analysis and the severe challenges facing local government pension funds, as well as a series of recommendations for improving the fiscal sustainability of the City of Chicago and Cook County. The following is a selection of the year’s posts. FY2012 Local Government Budget…
In 2011 the IIFS blog provided weekly context, information and perspective on key fiscal issues in the State of Illinois. Posts in 2011 focused on analysis of FY2012 Illinois budget negotiations, analysis of the ongoing Illinois pension crisis and timely research on other fiscal issues impacting the State of Illinois. The following is a selection of the year’s posts. Analysis of FY2012 Illinois Budget Negotiations The IIFS blog opened the year by examining the implications of a…
Last week marked the end of the budget season for the nine local governments monitored by the Civic Federation. These governments include: the City Colleges of Chicago, Chicago Public Schools, DuPage County, City of Chicago, Cook County, Chicago Transit Authority, Forest Preserve District of Cook County, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago and Chicago Park District. While each local government’s budget and fiscal health status was evaluated individually, there are…
This week marks the end of the Civic Federation's fiscal year 2012 local government budget analysis season. The nine local governments monitored by the Civic Federation include: City Colleges of Chicago, Chicago Public Schools, DuPage County, City of Chicago, Cook County, Chicago Transit Authority, Forest Preserve District of Cook County, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago and Chicago Park District. The most notable finding of the budget season was that six of the eight…
The Chicago Transit Authority Board will vote on CTA President Forrest Claypool’s FY2012 Budget Recommendations on November 15, 2011. The proposed $1.2 billion operating budget closes a preliminary budget shortfall of approximately $277 million, which was driven by $81 million in expenditure increases and the loss of $196 million in one-time revenues used during FY2011. The CTA plans to close more than half of the budget shortfall by cutting personnel costs with labor reforms that are…
The Civic Federation supports the FY2012 proposed Chicago Transit Authority budget of approximately $1.2 billion because it ends the past practice of using capital funds to close operating gaps and maintains current fare and service levels. This budget proposes to substantially curb expenditure growth by addressing expensive labor practices thereby setting a direction for structurally balanced budgets in the future. However, the FY2012 budget depends on the cooperation of labor unions and…
Cook County Clerk David Orr’s office today released the 2010 Cook County Tax Rates Report. The report lists property tax rates for all taxing districts in Cook County and provides sample composite rates for many municipalities. The composite rate is the total tax rate that appears on a tax bill. The composite tax rate on a typical City of Chicago tax bill will increase from 4.627% last year to 4.931%. This is the first time the rate has increased since tax year 1998 (payable in 1999) when it…
Today the Civic Federation published an update to its primer The Cook County Property Tax Extension Process: A Primer on Levies, Tax Caps, Tax Bills and the Effects of Tax Increment Financing Districts. The update adds additional years of data when available and provides an enhanced explanation of the effect of tax increment financing (TIF) on local governments and taxpayers in Cook County. This blog summarizes the TIF explanation included in the primer. For more detail and background, please…
