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…
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…
On June 30, 2009 the Chicago City Council passed a resolution asking the Civic Federation to conduct a review of the financial projections made by…
This report provides a trend analysis of indicators that measure the financial health and performance of ten major local government pension funds from 1998 to 2007, the most recent year for which audited data are available. It finds that…
This report reviews best practices in the composition of public pension boards of trustees nationwide, and makes recommendations on improvements to pension boards in Illinois.
The Civic Federation's legislative priorities for 2009 include public pension reform, the dissolving of the Illinois International Port District, creating a new governing board for the Cook County Forest Preserve District, requiring all…
The Civic Federation supports the FY2009 City of Chicago budget of $5.97 billion because it does not rely on raising property tax and begins the painful yet necessary step of reducing payroll by 2,618 full-time equivalent positions to…
The Civic Federation does not support the City Colleges' proposed FY2009 budget because it is unsustainable and relies almost exclusively on revenue enhancements, such as a maximum property tax increase, rather than focusing on ways to…
This report calls for the dissolution of the Illinois International Port District and the transfer of its operations to the City of Chicago. It finds that the District has shifted its primary focus from port operations to the management of…
This brief provides a compilation of selected consumer taxes, including rates and descriptions, in place in the City of Chicago as of October 4, 2007. It includes such taxes as the sales tax, gas tax, amusement tax, lease tax, liquor tax,…
