Taxes and Fees

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Civic Federation 2010 Legislative Priorities

The Civic Federation's legislative priorities for 2010 include public pension reform, requiring state government to develop and implement performance measurement and a capital improvement plan, the dissolving of the Illinois International…

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Metropolitan Water Reclamation District FY2010 Tentative Budget: Analysis and Recommendations

The Civic Federation supports the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District’s FY2010 Tentative Budget of nearly $1.7 billion as a prudent response to revenue shortfalls. The MWRD plans to prioritize spending, control personnel costs, and…

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Chicago Park District FY2010 Operating Budget Recommendations: Analysis and Recommendations

The Civic Federation offers qualified support for the FY2010 Chicago Park District’s proposed operating budget of $391.9 million. The District is proposing a responsible budget that reduces expenditures and holds the property tax levy…

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Civic Federation Supports Cook County Sales Tax Rollback

 The Civic Federation commends the Cook County Board for voting 12-5 to roll back half of last year’s one percentage point sales tax hike and for overriding President Todd Stroger’s veto. The Federation considers this a victory for…

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Cook County commissioners vote to cut in half Stroger sales tax increase

This article describes the politics surrounding a vote by the Cook County Board of Commissioners to reduce the county sales tax by a half-cent. It cites the Civic Federation’s analysis of the County’s proposed FY2009 budget.

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City of Chicago FY2010 Proposed Budget: Analysis and Recommendations

The Civic Federation opposes the FY2010 City of Chicago budget of $6.14 billion because it is unsustainable and relies too heavily on one-time reserve funds to close a $520.0 million budget deficit. The proposed drastic draw down of long-…

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Civic Federation Report Shines Light on Cook County Property Tax Appeals Process and Trends

(CHICAGO) A new report released today by the Civic Federation explains the assessment appeal process at the Cook County Assessor’s Office and the Board of Review and includes data on the number and type of real estate parcels filing…

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Cook County Property Tax Appeals: A Primer on the Appeals Process with Comparative Data for 2000-2008

The purpose of this issue brief is to provide summary information on property tax appeals in Cook County, Illinois. It describes the assessment appeal process at the Cook County Assessor’s Office and the Cook County Board of Review and…

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TIF Does Not Take Money Away From the Chicago Public Schools

Under the old state statute that limited the property tax rates of the Chicago Public Schools, Tax Increment Financing directly restricted property tax revenues available to CPS because it froze part of the equalized assessed value (EAV)—…

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Chicago Public Schools Reap TIF Revenues

Chicago Public Schools has received almost $400 million in Tax Increment Financing revenue from the creation of the first City of Chicago TIF in 1984 through July 2009 and is scheduled to receive over $491.3 million more according to…