Taxes and Fees

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What Causes Property Tax Bills to Increase or Decrease?

The Cook County Treasurer’s Office has announced that the second installment of 2010 property taxes is expected to be due in the first week of November. The…

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You say avoidance, they say evasion

In this opinion piece, Phil Rosenthal discusses a recent lawsuit brought by the Regional Transit Authority and the City of Chicago against downstate municipalities in regard to the diversion of tax revenue. The Civic Federation says that…

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Updated Report Explains Effect of TIF on Cook County Local Governments

Today the Civic Federation published an update to its primer The Cook County Property Tax Extension Process: A Primer on Levies…

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State Sees Decline in Backlog of Business Tax Refunds

The State of Illinois still owes income tax refunds to many businesses, but the backlog declined in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2011 and is expected to dip further this year. According to the Illinois Department of Revenue, 4,569…

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Volatile PPRT Revenue Should Not Be Relied on for Local Government Operating Budgets

  Illinois’ Personal Property Replacement Tax (PPRT) is a revenue source for local governments that was created by the General Assembly…

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CPS Makes Difficult Choices to Balance FY2012 Budget, Must Plan for Enormous Future Budget Gaps

The Civic Federation announced its support for the Chicago Public Schools proposed FY2012 budget in a 82-page analysis released today at civicfed.org. Although supporting the CPS’s proposed $5.9 billion spending plan for the coming school…

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Chicago Public Schools FY2012 Budget: Analysis and Recommendations

The Civic Federation supports the Chicago Public Schools proposed $5.9 billion budget for FY2012, which is an increase of 1.5%, or $87.0 million, from the year-end estimates of FY2011. The proposed budget is a reasonable short-term plan to…

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CPS Leaders: 'Courageous' choices needed

This article profiles many of the major reforms Chicago Public Schools may need to make in order to ensure long-term fiscal health. The Civic Federation says that because the District’s financial problems stem in part from delayed State of…

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State Challenges Hospitals on Charity Care

New rulings by the Illinois Department of Revenue have reignited a debate over whether the State’s non-profit hospitals provide adequate charity care to patients in exchange for their property-tax exemptions. On August 16, 2011 the…

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Study shows decline in Cook County property values

Findings from the Civic Federation’s “Estimated Full Value of Real Property in Cook County: 2000-2009” report is the focus of this…