The members and staff of the Civic Federation are heartbroken to share the news of the death of our president, Laurence Msall. He passed away surrounded by family on Saturday, February 4, following complications from surgery. Our members and staff are supporting each other...

On Wednesday, Jan. 18, the Civic Federation honored Chicago Fire Commissioner Annette Nance-Holt with the 31st Annual Motorola Solutions Foundation Excellence in Public Service Award. The full award...

On February 3, 2022, Attorney General Raoul announced that the State of Illinois and local governments that signed on to the agreement will receive a total of...

The following are summaries of the five most-read posts presented on the Civic Federation’s blog in 2022, listed here in chronological order. The posts examine issues related to property taxes and inflation, the relationship between cash bail reform and crime, and the financial impact of ending...

Following Cook County voters’ approval of a higher property tax levy for the Forest Preserve District of Cook County (FPDCC) via a...

The CTA’s FY2023 budget of $1.8 billion was approved by the Regional Transit Authority Board of Directors on December 15, 2022. This blog presents an overview of that budget as well as data for CTA fiscal plans from FY2019 through 2025.

Some of the key highlights of the current FY2023...

The Civic Federation annually releases a report on consumer taxes in the City of Chicago, which will be released next month. Consumer taxes are tied to the use or consumption of certain goods and services that can be charged directly to consumers through retail transactions or passed on to...

After a record-setting delay, tax year 2021 tax rates have been released and second installment tax bills have been sent out with a Dec. 30, 2022 due date . Per...

The Illinois General Assembly passed a series of amendments during veto session in early December to the SAFE-T (Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity – Today) Act, the criminal justice omnibus law enacted in early 2021. The SAFE-T Act (...

On November 14, 2022, the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget (GOMB) released the Illinois Economic and Fiscal Policy Report. The report includes changes to the FY2023 enacted budget revenue forecast and a five-year budgetary forecast.

The FY2023 Enacted Budget

On April...

This blog examines online reporting of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) spending and performance measures by major U.S. cities. A key component of ARPA was a $350 billion infusion of federal funding to state, local and Tribal governments nationwide to support their pandemic recovery through the...

A report recently released by the Civic Federation highlights the current processes in Cook County bond court, including...

On November 7, 2022, the Chicago City Council voted to pass the Mayor’s proposed FY2023 budget of $16.4 billion. The...

In the State of Illinois, non-home rule units of government located in counties subject to the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law (PTELL) are limited in the size of their annual property tax extension to 5% or the increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), whichever is less. However, the...

Fund balance is a term used to describe the net assets of a governmental fund and serves as a measure of budgetary reserves. [1] In FY2021, the last year for which audited financial information is available, Cook County’s total unrestricted general...