The Civic Federation opposes the proposed FY2011 City of Chicago budget of nearly $6.2 billion because it does not effectively address the structural deficit and relies too heavily on asset lease reserve funds and debt restructuring to…
The Civic Federation often voices concerns when governments use one-time or nonrecurring revenue sources for ongoing expenses. There are a number of reasons this can be problematic. By definition such revenue sources will not be…
The following letter to the editor of the Chicago Tribune from Civic Federation President Laurence Msall was published on August 24, 2010. As a non-partisan, independent government research organization, the Civic Federation applauds R.…
This report compares effective property tax rates in selected communities around metropolitan Chicago and finds that while all communities’ effective tax rates increased in 2008, rates have mostly declined since 1999. The report also finds…
A tax increment financing (TIF) transparency bill (Public Act 096-1335) passed by the Illinois legislature in May and signed into law by Governor Pat Quinn on…
The sales tax rate on general merchandise in Cook County declines by 0.5 percentage point on July 1, 2010. This rolls back half of the 1.0 percentage point increase imposed by the Cook County Board of Commissioners effective July 1,…
On June 15, 2010 the Chicago Board of Education approved measures to cope with the school district’s…
The Civic Federation supports the Illinois General Assembly’s first steps toward comprehensive public pension reform in Illinois and urges state leaders to implement further reforms. On Wednesday, March 24, 2010, the Illinois General…
The Civic Federation supports the Illinois General Assembly’s first steps toward comprehensive public pension reform in Illinois and urges state leaders to implement further reforms. On Wednesday, March 24, 2010, the Illinois General…
All ten Chicago-area local government pension funds analyzed annually by the Civic Federation had negative investment returns in fiscal year 2008 for a total investment…
