Taxes and Fees

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Cook County Sales Tax Falls by 0.5% Today

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,…

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Sales Taxes: Reports and Projections

Last month the State of Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA) released a report entitled “…

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Is TIF the Solution to the Chicago Public Schools’ Budget Crisis?

  On June 15, 2010 the Chicago Board of Education approved measures to cope with the school district’s…

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States Punt on Tax Increases for FY2011

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.…

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Changes in Store for the DuPage Water Commission?

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…

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Daley rules out property tax increase next year

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…

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School Finance Authority: From Creation to Dissolution

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…

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Civic Federation TIF Reforms Pass Both Houses

On May 4, 2010 the Illinois General Assembly passed a bill that will significantly improve the transparency of information about Tax Increment Financing districts in Illinois. Senate Bill 3152 implements a number of the…

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How is the Taxable Value of Your Cook County Real Estate Calculated?

The Civic Federation recently published a primer on the Cook County Property Assessment Process. It explains many features…

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New Civic Federation Report Explains Cook County Property Assessment Process

(CHICAGO) A report released today by the Civic Federation explains the how the taxable value of Cook County real estate is determined and describes different assessment methods, the classification system, equalization, and exemptions.…