The following blog post examines the possibility of the City of Chicago instituting a city income tax. The idea was discussed by several mayoral and aldermanic candidates in the recent Chicago 2019 municipal election.

This blog post is intended for informational purposes only. The Civic...

Last week, the Civic Federation wrote about the Chicago City Council’s recent approval of a resolution to begin livestreaming committee meetings in...

On March 13, 2019 the Chicago City Council voted to approve Substitute Resolution 2018-1151 . The Resolution amends Rules 49 and 55...

In a series of...

The following blog post explores the idea of a downtown congestion fee and the factors that would need to be considered if Chicago were to impose such a fee. The Civic Federation does not take a position on any type of congestion pricing or whether it should be implemented in Chicago. This blog...

The following blog post examines the possibility of the City of Chicago starting a public bank. It is intended for informational purposes only. The Civic Federation has not taken a position on the idea, which has been discussed during the run-up to the Chicago municipal election later this month...

Illinois’ large number of local government units – the largest in the United States at approximately 7,000 according to the U.S. Census Bureau – is often cited as a reason for high property taxes in Illinois and has fueled calls for government consolidation and efficiencies. In February 2015...

The Civic Federation recently released its annual Effective Property Tax Rates report , which examines two- and ten-year trends in estimated effective tax rates for residential, commercial and...

Update: Collection of the City of Chicago’s tax on other tobacco products has been moved from a starting date of March 1, 2019 to no sooner than April 1, 2019 or 60 days following the plaintiff’s deadline to file an appeal, according to the City of Chicago’s Office of Budget and Management....

The following are the five most read posts presented by the Civic Federation blog in 2018 in chronological order. The posts examine issues related to property taxes, Chicago Public Schools and jail population data.

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On December 13, 2018, the Motorola Solutions Foundation and the Civic Federation honored the outstanding public service of Jamie Rhee, Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Aviation. The annual Motorola Solutions Foundation Excellence in Public Service Award recognizes a non-elected...

On December 4 the City of Chicago closed on a deal to refund $673 million of its General Obligation bonds with bonds issued by the Sales Tax Securitization Corporation (STSC). The City Created the STSC in October 2017 after such corporations were authorized by the Illinois General Assembly as...

As part of the FY2016 budget approval process during fall of 2015, the City of Chicago for the first time imposed a waste removal fee of $9.50 per month on approximately 600,000 residents already receiving waste removal services provided by City of Chicago employees. Chicago residences receiving...

The Cook County Board of Commissioners on October 17, 2018 approved an ordinance establishing an Independent Revenue Forecasting Commission. [1] ...

The Civic Federation conducts an analysis of the Chicago Transit Authority’s annual proposed budget each year. This analysis includes two measures used to assess CTA’s productivity over time: labor cost per actual unlinked passenger trip and operating expense per passenger mile....