Illinois has enshrined a "right to strike" in state law, effectively giving government worker unions the power to shut down government services to get what they want. The latest example: A teachers' union in West Chicago may go on strike in February to force 22 percent pay raises over the course of the next contract.
Under the guise of rehabilitating underserved communities, Chicago City Council approved another tax transfer to a private company.
Alderman Ricardo Munoz's proposal highlights seven expensive properties in or around the Loop that aldermen contend were underassessed, shifting the property tax burden to other property owners.
House Bill 4244 would give McHenry County voters an easier path to having a choice in eliminating their township governments, encouraging consolidation in a county where residents pay some of the highest property taxes in the nation.
The 2011 tax hikes cost the state economy $55.8 billion in real GDP from 2012-2016.
With statewide elections in November, the 2018 forecast calls for gridlock.
Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan, Senate President John Cullerton and state Rep. Robert Martwick are all involved in the clout-heavy cottage industry of property tax appeals.
The Cook County assessor may have to pay $41,000 in fines for accepting donations in excess of the limit allowed by Cook County campaign finance rules.
The office of Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx signed off on a $2 million property tax settlement with the property tax firm headed by Foxx campaign donor Alderman Ed Burke.
Policy failures have resulted in a steady stream of income flowing to neighboring states.
The village of Lakewood is making encouraging reforms in a county where residents pay some of the highest property taxes in the nation.
One community in northern Illinois’ McHenry County is a case study on the glacial pace of consolidation in a state with the most units of local government – and some of the highest property taxes – in the nation.
City Council gave private ‘booting’ companies the blessing to charge Chicagoans more to remove the device from vehicles.