The Civic Federation supports the City Colleges tentative FY2016 budget totaling $695.6 million because it continues to minimize the financial burden placed on taxpayers by avoiding a property tax increase at a time when other local…
This article discusses the potential for Chicago residents to see a significant property tax increase, due to the intensifying financial challenges facing the City of Chicago and Chicago Public Schools. The Civic Federation said new…
This article looks at the range of insurance policies being considered as part of Boston’s bid for the 2024 Olympic Games, and whether policies could sufficiently protect taxpayers from covering costs. The…
This segment explores the idea of a city income tax for Chicago and looks at city income tax rates in other cities. The Civic Federation said the tax could be a disincentive for attracting businesses.
This annual brief provides a compilation of selected consumer taxes, including rates and descriptions, in place in the City of Chicago as of January 1, 2015. It includes such taxes as the sales tax, amusement tax, lease tax, hotel tax,…
What local government purposes, services, or expenditures does your property tax dollar fund? Governments traditionally use property tax revenues to pay for a wide variety of expenditures, including employee salaries and pensions, debt…
This editorial discusses an upcoming $550 million increase in the City’s required pension payments and the stance of both mayoral candidates on increasing property taxes leading into the April 7 election. It cited the Civic Federation’s…
This article looks at both mayoral candidates’ proposals for addressing the City of Chicago’s financial challenges, which include severely underfunded pension funds, a high debt level and Chicago Public Schools’ $1 billion deficit. The…
Under Governor Bruce Rauner’s proposed FY2016 budget, one of the largest sources of state funding for local governments in Illinois would be reduced by half. The reduction is part of more than $4 billion in spending cuts and $2.2 billion…
