City of Chicago

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Op-ed: Coming Tuesday: Emanuel's make-or-break budget for Chicago

The following opinion piece by Civic Federation President Laurence Msall was published by the

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City of Chicago Releases Annual Financial Analysis for 2015

The City of Chicago recently released its Annual Financial Analysis for 2015. According to an…

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Taxing the Cloud: Chicago Department of Finance Applies Existing Taxes to Streaming and Cloud Services

UPDATE: On September 9, 2015, a lawsuit challenging the streaming services was filed on behalf of seven plaintiffs against the City of Chicago. The plaintiffs argue that because they subscribe to various streaming services, such as Netflix…

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City Council Approves Major Debt Restructuring and Future Capital Borrowing

On June 17, 2015 the Chicago City Council approved the largest borrowing of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s tenure, totaling $1.1 billion. The issuance pays for the current costs of refinancing the City of Chicago’s variable rate debt, ending its…

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Selected Consumer Taxes in the City of Chicago

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,…

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Chicago Police and Fire Employer Pension Funding Changes Passed in Illinois General Assembly

In December 2010 the Illinois General Assembly passed and then Governor Quinn signed legislation (Public Act 96-1495) that created a new tier of pension…

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Proposed Gaming Expansion Revenues Likely Inadequate to Rescue Illinois and Chicago Finances

UPDATE: Subsequent to the publication of this blog,

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Chicago Area Governments Bond Ratings Fall Below Investment Grade

Recently, Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the City of Chicago,…

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Civic Federation – Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Forum Examines Sin Taxes

The Civic Federation joined with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago on April 2, 2015 to co-host a conference on the use, efficacy and future of sin taxes. Experts, practitioners and academics from around the country gathered to discuss…

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Where Do Your Property Taxes Go?

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…