A bill that has passed the Illinois House and Senate would provide CPS with a $215 million pension bailout and other funding carve-outs.

An Illinois appeals court upheld a temporary restraining order on Cook County’s proposed sweetened beverage tax. Cook County officials claim 1,100 jobs will be lost if the tax does not go into effect.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel expressed little concern over Moody’s Investors Service’s announcement that it might downgrade Chicago’s already-junk-rated bonds over CPS budget problems.

High parking fees in the city only add to the heavy burden of taxes and fees Chicagoans face.

The Cook County sugary drinks tax was set to go into effect July 1, but a circuit court judge has temporarily blocked the implementation of the tax in response to a lawsuit opposing it.

Gov. Bruce Rauner issued an amendatory veto nixing fee hikes from a 911 service reauthorization bill lawmakers sent to his desk. Illinoisans already pay some of the nation’s highest taxes on their cellphones.

On June 28 the Illinois House of Representatives failed to pass Senate Bill 484, an illusory property tax freeze that did not offer real reform, left Chicago homeowners out in the cold, and would have left in place an opaque and expensive property tax system that benefits special interests over taxpayers.

Senate Bill 484 would offer a freeze in name only, as it fails to address the very costs that drive up Illinois homeowners’ property tax bills.

A new tax on sugary drinks designed to generate revenue for cash-strapped Cook County will be the third burdensome tax applied to soda prices in Chicago, making a $4 12-pack of soda in the city cost $5.97.