Homelessness and housing insecurity in Chicago are crises that must be promptly addressed, but many questions surround the Bring Chicago Home proposal, and the proposed graduated real estate transfer tax poses further risk to a commercial…
In a joint letter sent Tuesday, the Civic Federation, the Better Government Association and the League of Women Voters of Chicago urged Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Chicago’s City Council to improve transparency and public access to…
The Better Government Association, the Civic Federation and the League of Women Voters of Chicago have called on Chicago’s City Council to improve transparency around Council and committee agenda items and increase public access to and…
As part of the total City of Chicago budget adopted for the 2024 fiscal year that began on January 1, the City Council approved a nearly $2.0 billion budget for the Chicago Police Department (CPD). The Police Department budget represents…
In September 2023 the Chicago City Council approved placing a referendum on the March 2024 primary…
The following are summaries of the five most-read posts presented on the Civic Federation’s blog in 2023, listed here in chronological order. The posts examine issues related to Illinois taxes and debt, Tier 2 Benefits, the SAFE-T Act…
This blog post examines the City of Chicago’s long-term liabilities. It includes a review of trends in the City’s long-term governmental and business-type activities, liabilities, debt service trends and a discussion of its tax-supported…
