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Chicago Tribune: Cook County commercial property assessments defy logic, punish taxpayers, enrich lawyers
Amid the most tumultuous real estate market since the Great Depression, Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios produced valuations for thousands of commercial and industrial properties in Chicago that did not change from one reassessment to the next, not even by a single dollar.
That fact, one finding in an unprecedented ProPublica Illinois-Chicago Tribune analysis of tens of thousands of property records, points to a conclusion that experts say defies any logical explanation except one:
Berrios failed at one of his most important responsibilities — estimating the value of commercial and industrial properties.
State Journal-Register: Illinois sets ‘blended’ tax rates for 2017 income
Millions of Illinois taxpayers will pay an in-between rate on 2017 income as a result of the state’s mid-year tax increase.
The Illinois Department of Revenue computed the “blended” 4.35 percent rate for individual returns due in April after the basic tax rate increased from 3.75 percent to 4.95 percent on July 1. The corporate rate increased from 5.25 percent to 7 percent. State lawmakers approved the rates and the state’s first full-year budget in two years over the veto of Gov. Bruce Rauner.
Chicago Tribune: Illinois has enough children's insurance cash to last through September
Children from low-income families in many states could lose health insurance coverage if Congress doesn’t act soon — but Illinois families need not panic just yet.
Illinois has enough funding left for the Children’s Health Insurance Program to last through September, according to the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services.
Chicago Tribune: State prepaid tuition program comes to a halt again
or the second time in seven years, Illinois’ prepaid college tuition program has stopped accepting new participants because it does not have the money to fulfill its projected obligations.
The program, called the College Illinois! Prepaid Tuition Program, allows parents to pay tuition toward a state university in advance as a hedge against rising tuition.
Chicago Tribune: CPS watchdog says Claypool should be fired, but Emanuel sticks by his schools chief
The inspector general for Chicago Public Schools has recommended that district CEO Forrest Claypool be fired for his handling of an ethics investigation involving the district’s top attorney, according to sources, but Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday said he is sticking by his embattled schools chief.
Emanuel said in a statement that Claypool “made a mistake” but asked that there be no rush to judgment.
Chicago Tribune: Emanuel gets lower interest rate under new borrowing approach
City Hall’s first round of borrowing under a new debt structure that Mayor Rahm Emanuel is counting on to save tens of millions of dollars went as planned Wednesday, officials said.
Interest rates on $575 million in debt-restructuring bonds came in at a range of about 2.4 percent to 3.6 percent, compared with the 7 percent or so the last time the city issued debt. That bodes well for further planned bond issues in the coming year, said Molly Poppe, the city’s financial spokeswoman.
Chicago Sun-Times: City’s defense in cellphone tickets lawsuit could backfire: attorney
Chicago is defending itself against a lawsuit seeking refunds for motorists issued cellphone tickets in a way that could open the city up to even more liability.
In a motion to dismiss the complaint, Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration has argued that tens of thousands of distracted driving tickets issued since 2005 were actually “equipment violations” — not moving violations that are “reportable” offenses.
Northwest Herald: McHenry Township Trustee Bob Anderson wants voters to decide whether to abolish road district
Bob Anderson, a longtime advocate of township consolidation, is bringing a motion to his fellow McHenry Township trustees next week to pass a resolution to ask voters in the November election whether they want to abolish the road district and consolidate it into the township.
“There’s no oversight of the road district,” Anderson said. “I don’t know if any other elected official has more power than the highway commissioner.”
Daily Herald: Elk Grove Twp. District 59 might change school start times to cut spending
Elk Grove Township District 59 officials want to cut $10 million in spending over the next two years, and everything from operating costs to jobs is on the table.
But renegotiating a contract with First Student Inc., its school bus provider, is the first way the district is looking to save money. That could mean a change in time students start their day.
Daily Herald: Tax hike likely to be trimmed for Libertyville neighborhood
Residents in one Libertyville subdivision likely will see a tax hike next year, but not as much as first considered.
Village officials Tuesday informally agreed to a compromise that would increase the special service area tax levy for homes in the Timber Creek neighborhood by 20 percent, rather than the 33 percent initially proposed.
Decatur Herald & Review: Decatur Township approves lower tax levy of $1.63 million
The Decatur Township Board of Trustees will lower its property tax levy for the coming fiscal year, keeping an earlier promise.
The board approved a tax levy during its Wednesday night meeting of about $1.63 million for the fiscal year that begins April 1. The levy is about $60,000 less than the $1.69 million tax levy approved last fall.