Cook County

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Senate Bill 2691: Alternative General Homestead Exemption Extension

The Civic Federation supports the extension of the "7%" property tax cap for an additional three years, but does not support raising the EAV exemption maximum from $20,000 to $60,000.

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Status of Local Pension Funding Fiscal Year 2004: An Evaluation of Ten Local Pension Funds in Cook County

This report provides a trend analysis of indicators that measure the financial health and performance of ten major local government pension funds from 1997 to 2004. It finds a combined $14.4 billion in unfunded liabilities for the ten…

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Civic Federation Supports Class 3 Assessment Reduction, but Cautions that Fundamental Property Tax Reform is Still Needed

The Civic Federation supports Assessor Houlihan's proposal to reduce Class 3 assessment levels from 26% to 20% of market value over three years, but cautions that this reduction is likely to have only a very modest effect on the supply of…

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GASB 43 and 45 Reporting Guidelines For Other Post Employment Benefits: A Civic Federation Issue Brief

This issue brief provides a "plain English" description of how GASB 43 and 45 will require government financial reporting on non-pension post-employment benefits (OPEB). It is illustrated with preliminary estimates of unfunded OPEB…

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Civic Federation 2006 Legislative Priorities

The Civic Federation's legislative priorities for 2006 include public pension reform, elimination of the Suburban Cook County Tuberculosis Sanitarium District, property tax exemptions and assessment reform, revision of the Regional…

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Cook County FY2006 Proposed Budget: Analysis and Recommendations

The Civic Federation opposed Cook County's $3.076 billion budget because it failed to include long term management efficiencies and cost reduction measures.

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Effective Property Tax Rates: Select Municipalities in Northeastern Illinois, 1999-2003

This report compares total property tax bills in selected communities in metropolitan Chicago, and finds that the effective rate for most communities studied fell between 1999 and 2003.

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Status of Local Pension Funding 2003: An Evaluation of Nine Local Pension Funds within Cook County

This report provides a trend analysis of indicators that measure the financial health and performance of 9 major local government pension funds from 1998 to 2003. It finds a combined $9.7 billion in unfunded liabilities for the nine funds.

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Civic Federation 2005 Legislative Priorities

The Civic Federation's legislative priorities for 2005 include the Suburban Cook County Tuberculosis Sanitarium District, property tax exemptions and assessment reform, public employee pensions, the Regional Transportation Authority Act,…

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Cook County FY2005 Proposed Budget: Analysis and Recommendations

The Civic Federation opposed the County’s $3.04 billion FY2005 budget because it does not reduce operational expenditures or implement increased efficiencies and it is balanced by means of two new and unnecessary revenue enhancements: a 2…