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City of Chicago

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Illinois General Assembly Passes Cook County Veto Override Measure

The Illinois Senate voted today to approve House Bill 4625, which means both houses of the…

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Will my property tax bill go up or down?

The property tax rates released yesterday by the Cook County Clerk show that the composite tax rates in the City of Chicago and many municipalities declined slightly from the…

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Chicagoans, can you spare $10,037?

Data from the most recent audited financial statements of Illinois’ state and local government pension funds shows that the total unfunded liabilities for pensions supported by the taxes of Chicago residents reached $10,037 per capita for…

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Chicago TIF Still Cloudy, Even Under Sunshine Ordinance

One of the Civic Federation’s ongoing concerns has been transparency in the use of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) by the City of Chicago and State of Illinois. Although the Civic Federation supports the use of TIF as municipal economic…

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Comparing Property Tax Burdens Across Communities

This week the Civic Federation released its annual Effective Property Tax Rates report. The report…

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How Does the City of Chicago Spend Your Tax Dollars?

Did you ever wonder how your property tax dollars are spent by the City of Chicago? How many people work for the Department of Streets and Sanitation? How much those employees are paid? What kinds of taxes and fees the City levies and how…

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Civic Federation Presents 2016 Olympic Bid Review Findings to Chicago City Council Finance Committee

The Civic Federation and our consultant L.E.K. Consulting testified yesterday before the Finance Committee of the Chicago City Council about our review of the…

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Narrative Summary of the Chicago 2016 Olympic Bid Review

The Civic Federation and L.E.K. Consulting's review of the Chicago 2016 Olympic Bid has determined that the operating budget provides adequate protection for taxpayers, but the development of the Olympic Village exposes the City of Chicago…

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What has Chicago done with the Billions of Dollars in Long Term Asset Lease Proceeds?

Since 2004, the City of Chicago has transacted three major long term asset leases worth over $3.5 billion. The Chicago Skyway (2004) – A 99-year lease with Cintra-Macquarie with a transaction value of $1.83 billion. Downtown…

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Where Do Your Property Tax Dollars Go?

Police, parks, streets, schools, community colleges, public hospitals, elections, courts, jails, mosquito abatement, sewage treatment…these are just a few of the services that, in Illinois, are provided by many different local governments…