In an effort to shore up pension debt, Chicago officials in 2014 adopted a pension-reform package that included raising the telephone tax. Though the Illinois Supreme Court struck down these changes, the tax hike remains.
Even with the city’s record tax hike and massive borrowing, lack of reform means Chicagoans can expect to open up their wallets yet again.
The governor can exercise the veto power in four different ways: a total veto, an amendatory veto, an item veto and a reduction veto.
The combined federal, state, county and city taxes on alcohol result in a 28 percent effective tax rate on a bottle of spirits bought in Chicago.
In light of the Illinois General Assembly’s refusal to pass a balanced budget, the Unbalanced Budget Response Act is a prudent measure that would temporarily allow the governor to shift funds and reduce spending to balance the state’s budget.
While Illinois motorists have seen the country’s second-highest increase in gas prices, Chicagoans pay even higher prices at the pump due to multiple layers of city, county and state taxation.
Illinois’ budget gridlock has prevented the state from making payments on some 200 auto liability claims worth $560,000.
CSU's bloated administration costs more than $3,600 per student, by far the highest of all Illinois' public colleges and universities. By comparison, the average MAP grant at CSU is $2,600 per student.
Combined sales taxes in Illinois have leaped past those of every other state in the region.
More than two-thirds of fiscal year 2016 has passed with the state lacking an overall budget.
While the mayor is right to say that expanding the downtown development area is a “win-win” for developers and poor communities, expanding downtown without the mayor’s proposed new tax on developers and inflexible size restrictions would be a bigger win for both.
Budget gridlock in Springfield caused the Illinois secretary of state’s office to suspend mailing vehicle-registration-renewal reminders in October 2015.
The secretary of state’s office has announced it will temporarily allow drivers to renew their vehicle registrations without first passing emissions tests.
The value of these raises is estimated at $26 million. CTU wanted the education labor board to compel CPS to pay out, even though the district and the union hadn’t agreed to a labor contract.