Taxes and Fees

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Could There be a City Income Tax?

This segment explores the idea of a city income tax for Chicago and looks at city income tax rates in other cities. The Civic Federation said the tax could be a disincentive for attracting businesses.

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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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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…

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Get real: Property tax has to be on the table

This editorial discusses an upcoming $550 million increase in the City’s required pension payments and the stance of both mayoral candidates on increasing property taxes leading into the April 7 election. It cited the Civic Federation’s…

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Register for the Civic Federation - Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Conference Today!

The Civic Federation and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago will co-host a conference, “Sin Taxes: The Sobering Fiscal Reality,” in two weeks on Thursday, April 2, 2015. The conference will examine the theories behind these ubiquitous…

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Devil in the details with city finances

This article looks at both mayoral candidates’ proposals for addressing the City of Chicago’s financial challenges, which include severely underfunded pension funds, a high debt level and Chicago Public Schools’ $1 billion deficit. The…

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Governor Proposes Significant Reduction in Funding to Local Governments

Under Governor Bruce Rauner’s proposed FY2016 budget, one of the largest sources of state funding for local governments in Illinois would be reduced by half. The reduction is part of more than $4 billion in spending cuts and $2.2 billion…

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Rauner pension math would mean big cuts for current state employees

This column discusses Governor Rauner’s pension reform proposal which accounts for $2.2 billion of the projected savings in his

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Illinois’ Most Expensive Tax Exemptions

The State of Illinois reduces its operating resources by more than 25% annually to provide individuals and businesses tax benefits through exemptions also known as tax expenditures. In FY2013, the most recent year that…