City of Chicago

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City Reduces Budget Deficit but Long-Term Challenges Remain

The City of Chicago recently released its mid-year Annual Financial Analysis for 2016, which provides financial estimates for the City’s fiscal year ending…

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Local Governments Must Repay $168 Million to the State

In April 2016, the Illinois Department of Revenue announced that it discovered a misallocation totaling an estimated $168 million in…

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Chicago Police and Fire Pension Funding Changes Become Law

One year after passing the Illinois General Assembly, a bill that puts the City of Chicago’s Police and Fire pension funds on a 40-year plan to reach 90% funding…

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States and Localities Move to Eliminate Sales Tax on Female Hygiene Products

The City of Chicago and Cook County recently joined a number of states nationwide in a move to exempt female hygiene products from the sales tax.   At the Local Level On March 16, 2016 the Chicago City Council…

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Civic Federation – Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Conference Checks in on Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act

The Civic Federation co-hosted a conference with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago on April 4, 2016 entitled, “Medicaid Expansion and the Affordable Care Act: A Fiscal Checkup.” Experts, practitioners and academics from around the…

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Chicago Pension Reforms Struck Down by Illinois Supreme Court

On March 24, 2016 the Illinois Supreme Court filed its opinion affirming the Cook County Circuit Court’s…

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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 May 1, 2016. It includes such taxes as the sales tax, amusement tax, lease tax, hotel tax,…

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Chicago and Cook County Impose Tax on Electronic Cigarettes

Consumers of electronic cigarettes in the City of Chicago and Cook County as a whole will pay new taxes in 2016. As part of their FY2016 budget processes the City of Chicago and Cook County both expanded their taxes on tobacco products to…

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Short-term Liabilities of City of Chicago Increase through FY2014, while CPS and Cook County Short-term Liabilities Decrease

Short-term or current liabilities are financial obligations that must be satisfied within one year. They can include short-term debt, accounts payable, accrued payroll and other current liabilities. This blog post presents five-year…

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2015 Year in Review on Civic Federation Blog

The following are the five most read posts presented by the Civic Federation blog in 2015. These posts examine a number of closely followed local government issues, ranging from City and County taxes to Chicago pension debt.  …