A recent report shows that nearly all the bond subsidies promised under the Build America Bond (BAB) program are being paid by the federal government to issuers applying for the credit without significant administrative delay. The BAB…
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.…
It’s no secret that the financially troubled State of Illinois owes billions of dollars in unpaid bills. What is not as widely known is that the State also owes $730 million in corporate income tax refunds, according to the Illinois…
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn recently announced his plans for $500 million in mass transit infrastructure improvements across the State. $…
Roughly a month ago, on July 1, 2010, Governor Pat Quinn announced that he planned to cut $1.1 billion from the $26.0 billion FY2011 State of Illinois budget previously approved by the General Assembly. At that time, the Governor did not…
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…
Despite a $2 billion drop in the State’s annual revenues in FY2010 , the General Assembly passed Governor Pat…
Almost immediately after the Illinois General Assembly approved an unbalanced budget for FY2011, two of the three major rating agencies downgraded the state’s debt ratings. It…
The Illinois Department of Revenue has announced that the tentative equalization factor for the Cook County 2009 property assessment year (taxes payable in late 2010) is…
On July 1, 2010—the first day of the State of Illinois’ FY2011 fiscal year—Governor Pat Quinn said that his budget for the new year will contain major spending cuts. However, most of the reductions have yet to be determined and the FY2011…
