Many cash-strapped states are looking to a proposal in the U.S. Congress to help collect sales taxes on internet purchases. The legislation could lead to a windfall in recaptured state sales tax revenues but currently would exclude…
The Civic Federation supports Governor Pat Quinn’s $62.4 billion FY2014 recommended operating budget for balancing revenues and expenditures without borrowing and making progress toward reducing the State’s backlog of unpaid bills. However…
State's pension costs to consume nearly 25% of State-source revenues in FY2014 (CHICAGO) – In a new report released today, the Civic Federation’s Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability supports Governor Quinn’s proposed budget for…
(The full content of this article is only available to the publication’s subscribers.) This article discusses the scheduled expiration of Cook County’s Alternative General Homestead Exemption or “7% cap” which was created in response to…
Governor Pat Quinn has proposed eliminating several corporate tax incentives to help pay down the State’s backlog of unpaid bills that is expected to total $7.5 billion at the end of the current fiscal year. The Governor’s proposal would…
(The full content of this article is only available to the publication’s subscribers.) This article profiles the City of Chicago’s economic vitality in relation to surrounding areas and focuses on population, retail activity, tax revenue…
This editorial discusses Illinois’ financial crisis in the context of the income tax increase enacted in 2011 and scheduled to partially rollback on January 1, 2015. It cites the Civic Federation’s…
This brief provides a compilation of selected consumer taxes, including rates and descriptions, in place in the City of Chicago as of January 1, 2013. It includes such taxes as the sales tax, gas tax, amusement tax, lease tax, hotel tax,…
This blog examines some of the long-term obligations of the City of Chicago and its overlapping local governments using a per capita indicator based on bonded debt and unfunded pension liabilities. Rating agencies and other financial…
