Annexation is the extension of municipal boundaries into adjacent unincorporated areas and the corresponding expansion of city services to those newly incorporated areas. In Illinois, municipal governments have the authority to determine and expand their boundaries, subject to the provisions of the Illinois Municipal Code. In a recent report, the Civic Federation began to identify reasons why Cook County’s unincorporated areas have not been incorporated into surrounding municipalities. The…
Cook County’s unincorporated areas account for 125.8 square miles, or 13.1% of the County’s total land area. (Of that land area, 60.26% is located within a forest preserve.) Residents of these areas rely on the County to provide municipal services such as law enforcement, building and zoning, and liquor control at a cost to the County of $37.2 million each year. A recent Civic Federation report profiles selected unincorporated areas. While their land area is not large, unincorporated…
This article discusses a report released by the Civic Federation that examines selected areas within Cook County that have never been incorporated by a municipality. In these unincorporated areas, which account for approximately 2.4% of Cook County’s total population, the residents rely on the County for municipal services like law enforcement, building and zoning, and liquor control.
The Civic Federation’s recent report profiling unincorporated areas in six townships within Cook County examines issues related to annexing unincorporated areas. Based on interviews conducted with various stakeholders involved in a decision to incorporate a previously unincorporated area in Cook County, the Federation was able to start to identify some of the problems that must be considered if incorporation is pursued as well as benefits that might accrue to residents and businesses in…
In-depth analysis also includes recommendations to facilitate incorporation A report released today by the Civic Federation examines selected areas within Cook County that have never been incorporated by a municipality. The full 208-page report, available here, includes an examination of why these areas have never been incorporated, detailed profiles of selected unincorporated areas, an estimate of the County’s cost to provide municipal services to its unincorporated areas and preliminary…
To view a mobile friendly version of this report, click here. This report examines selected areas within Cook County that have never been incorporated by a municipality. Approximately 2.4%, or 126,114, of Cook County’s 5.2 million residents live in unincorporated areas of the County and therefore do not pay taxes to a municipality. This requires County government to provide municipal services, including law enforcement, building and zoning, and liquor control, to small pockets of residents…
To view a mobile friendly version of this page, click here. As part of our full report on unincorporated Cook County, the Civic Federation compiled profiles of the unincorporated areas in the six townships that contain a majority of the total unincorporated Cook County population: Bremen, Lemont, Leyden, Maine, Northfield and Orland. Understanding more about the unique characteristics of these areas will help County and municipal officials, as well as unincorporated…
Below is a list of terms commonly used in the Civic Federation's Unincorporated Cook County report. Annexation Is the extension of municipal boundaries into adjacent unincorporated areas and the corresponding expansion of city services to those newly incorporated areas. In Illinois, municipal governments have the authority to determine and expand their boundaries, subject to the provisions of the Illinois Municipal Code (See 65 ILCS 5/ Illinois Municipal Code). Equalized Assessed Value Or EAV,…
