About Us

Mission

The Civic Federation remains true to the non-partisan mission established by its founding members as it helps local and state governments reduce their costs and improve the quality of public services by:

  • Promoting opportunities to reform local tax structures;
  • Guarding against wasteful expenditure of public funds; and
  • Serving as a technical resource to public officials and opinion leaders through non-partisan tax and fiscal research.

The Civic Federation provides objective information and advocates for improvements in government efficiency and tax policy. The Federation advances our mission through research, information, and action.

Research

The Civic Federation is continually engaged in writing long-term, in-depth research reports. These widely respected and influential projects cover the full range of public finance issues, from property taxes to the cost of public employee benefits. Recent publications include:

Information

In addition to long-term research projects, the Civic Federation continually monitors the finances of local governments and communicates important information and viewpoints to the community through publications, media statements, and our website. Our annual budget testimonies provide extensive, non-partisan analysis and specific recommendations for the City of Chicago, Chicago Public Schools, Cook County, and many other local governments. Additionally, each year we generate statements on the Status of Local Public Pensions, estimate the Full Value of Property in Cook County, and calculate Effective Property Tax Rates in Northeast Illinois. Local media organizations rely upon the information generated by the Federation as an objective viewpoint on local government finance.

Action

The Civic Federation is committed to using the information at its disposal to effect positive changes in government policy by working with public officials. Government leaders look to us to produce independent, reliable information about subjects that require government cooperation, such as controlling the cost of employee pension benefits. Each year, our staff works with Civic Federation Board members to develop policy initiatives at both the state and local levels that will protect taxpayers and reduce government waste. Recent examples include calling for the dissolution of the Illinois International Port District and for a separate board of commissioners for the Cook County Forest Preserve District. We have also successfully promoted legislation that allowed the Chicago Transit Authority to begin to control the cost of its pension and retiree health benefits and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago to create the first other post-employment benefits (OPEB) trust fund in Illinois.

Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability at the Civic Federation

The Civic Federation also examines State of Illinois fiscal issues through our new research institute, the Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability (IIFS). Click here to enter the IIFS area of our website.