Civic Federation Blog Archive: August 2009

08.25.09

Tip of the Iceberg

Today the Civic Federation released its analysis of Chicago Public Schools’ proposed FY2010 budget. On page 61 of the analysis we discuss the District’s dramatically escalating annual pension contribution costs. The District’s statutorily-required pension contribution was $177.8...

08.21.09

What has Chicago done with the Billions of Dollars in Long Term Asset Lease Proceeds?

Since 2004, the City of Chicago has transacted three major long term asset leases worth over $3.5 billion.

08.18.09

Tweeting Towards Transparency (Part 2)

August 14, 2009’s Civic Federation blog post, “Tweeting Towards Transparency (Part 1),” discussed how the Cook County Board’s Twitter account has helped make the proceedings of county board and committee meetings more transparent for Cook County residents. Today’s...

08.14.09

Tweeting Towards Transparency (Part 1)

A few local governments in Cook County have recently begun utilizing Twitter, a free micro-blogging website, in order to provide quick updates on relevant developments and information about governmental services. These local governments’ Twitter accounts supplement their websites by...

08.13.09

Where Do Your Property Tax Dollars Go?

Police, parks, streets, schools, community colleges, public hospitals, elections, courts, jails, mosquito abatement, sewage treatment…these are just a few of the services that, in Illinois, are provided by many different local governments. Illinois has more units of local government than...

08.06.09

Estimated Value of Cook County Real Estate Fell $9.7 Billion in 2007

 Today the Civic Federation released its annual estimate of the full market value of taxable real estate in Chicago and the Cook County suburbs. Tax year 2007 was the first year since at least 1995 that the estimated value of real estate in Chicago declined, from $666.2 billion in 2006 to $...

08.04.09

Civic Federation in the News

The Civic Federation is frequently cited in news articles and reports for its nonpartisan, evidence-based take on fiscal issues throughout Illinois. The month of July was a busy one, with 15 citations of Federation research or quotes of Federation staff in newspapers, nearly twice that in the...