Civic Federation Blog Archive: June 2010

06.30.10

Sales Taxes: Reports and Projections

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...

06.25.10

Civic Federation Luncheon Honors Abbott and John F. Sandner

On June 10th at the Palmer House Hilton in downtown Chicago, the Civic Federation honored the outstanding civic leadership of John F. Sandner, Retired Chairman and Member of the Executive Committee of CME Group, Inc., with the Lyman J. Gage Award for Outstanding Civic Contribution. Abbott, a global...

06.17.10

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 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...

06.16.10

Open Meetings Act in Illinois

The Illinois Open Meetings Act, 5 ILCS 120, was originally  enacted in 1957 and sets forth the rules and regulations for public meetings of governmental bodies across the state of Illinois. The policy behind this act is that “…the people have a right to be informed as to the...

06.09.10

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 DuPage Water Commission. The DuPage Water Commission operates...

06.01.10

Cook County Health System’s Independent Board Becomes Permanent

In a victory for good government, the Cook County Board of Commissioners on June 1, 2010 voted 13-3 to make permanent the independent Board of Directors overseeing the Cook County Health and Hospitals System (Health System). Without action by Commissioners, the independent Board would have expired...