The Civic Federation is pleased to return to Navy Pier’s Aon Grand Ballroom on Wednesday, June 28 for the 2023 Annual Civic Awards. This event honors one Chicagoan and one Chicago institution each year for their remarkable work toward the betterment of the city of Chicago. Awarded each year are...

The City of Chicago has received a number of upgrades from credit rating agencies over the past year, for both the City’s long-term general obligation debt and other debt. City debt primarily consists of general obligation debt secured by a full faith and credit pledge of revenues, revenue debt...

Governor Pritzker’s FY2024 budget touted significant reductions to the State’s bill backlog over the last several years,...

This week, the Civic Federation released its annual analysis of the State of Illinois Budget for FY2024. Among the recommendations made to the Governor and lawmakers was a call for the Illinois General Assembly to increase...

How should Illinois pay for public transit?

This was one of the key questions posed at a recent policy forum on the topic of public transportation in the Chicago region hosted by the Federal Reserve...

On April 20, 2023 two bills passed out of committee in the Illinois House of Representatives that would increase pension benefits for Chicago firefighters hired after 2010. Senate Bills...

The State of Illinois currently pays debt service on four major types of bonds: General Obligation (GO) bonds for capital projects, GO bonds for pension obligations, GO bonds to pay backlogged bills and Build Illinois revenue bonds. In previous years, the State has also issued short-term debt....

Thank you to everyone who joined us on Thursday, April 13, at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago for our half-day policy forum, “Public Transit in a Post-COVID World: Building a Financially Stable, Equitable and Accessible Mass Transit System in Chicago and Beyond.” We are grateful for the...

The Civic Federation released its annual Consumer Tax...

On February 15, 2023, Governor Pritzker released the State of Illinois FY2024 Operating and Capital Budgets . The proposed budget noted revenue collections post-pandemic have continued to exceed expectations. This strong performance has prompted the...

In the current campaign for Chicago Mayor and City Council, several candidates have called for restoring the City’s employer’s expense or “head” tax, a tax that was repealed in 2014.

An employer’s expense tax, or head tax, is imposed on businesses at a flat rate based on the number of...

The State of Illinois FY2024 budget proposed by Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, reflects the...

This post presents information on residential, commercial and industrial estimated effective property tax rates in northeastern Illinois municipalities in 2019, with some comparisons to rates a decade prior. The Civic Federation produces an annual estimated effective property tax rates report...

The Civic Federation has named the new acting president of the organization: Civic Federation Vice President and Research Director Sarah Wetmore. The decision comes following the unexpected death of the organization’s longtime president, Laurence Msall, on Feb. 4, due to...

A report released by the Cook County Clerk last month found that revenue from TIF districts increased to a record $1.6 billion for FY2021, including approximately...