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....

The Civic Federation is a member of Transform Illinois , a coalition of organizations committed to greater government efficiency. Transform Illinois held its fourth annual Transformer Awards on Thursday, October 11, 2018, which...

Consumers of liquid nicotine in the City of Chicago will now pay more for liquid nicotine following the passage of Ordinance...

The latest in a series about local governments, this blog post examines the number of park districts in Illinois, including an analysis of the number of park districts by county.

The park districts examined in this blog are stand-alone special purpose governments that provide public...

As part of an ongoing series about local governments in Illinois, this blog post will examine the revenues and expenditures of counties located in Illinois and a comparison of...

Annually the Civic Federation completes an analysis of the proposed budget of the City Colleges of Chicago. The Federation’s latest analysis of the City Colleges budget can be found here . This blog post expands on the...

The City of Chicago released its 2017 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) earlier this summer. This blog will examine the City’s Corporate Fund (i.e. General Fund) fund balance as a percent of general operating expenditures based on audited data from the City’s most recent CAFR. This...

The Chicago City Council on July 25, 2018 approved a 2.0% surcharge on shared housing and vacation rentals in the City of Chicago. The 2.0% surcharge is in addition to an existing 4.0% surcharge on vacation rentals or shared housing units, bringing the total taxes specific to home sharing to 6.0...

Cook County Clerk David Orr’s office released the 2017 Cook County Tax Rates report on June 20, 2018 and shortly after, Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas mailed the second...

Beginning in August 2018, establishments with liquor licenses in unincorporated areas of Cook County will be able to offer video gaming on automated gambling machines based on an ordinance amendment passed by the Cook County Board of Commissioners earlier this month. Video gaming refers to...

The Civic Federation’s Annual Civic Awards Luncheon, now in its 36th year, recognizes civic leadership in Chicago. Named for the Federation’s founding members, the Lyman J. Gage Award and the Addams-Palmer Award recognize the outstanding civic contributions of Chicago individuals and...