Chicago’s 2020 budget proposal was never truly balanced

By Adam Schuster, Bill Reveille

11/26/2019

Faced with the impossible task of balancing Chicago’s budget without pension reform, Mayor Lori Lightfoot is forced to partially rely on phantom cuts and revenues.

TAGS: bonds, budget, CAFR: Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, Chicago, Chicago City Council, Chicago City Hall, constitutional amendment, CTA: Chicago Transit Authority, CTU: Chicago Teachers Union, deficit, emergency fee, homelessness, housing market, ILGA: Illinois General Assembly, interest rates, library, Lori Lightfoot, Lyft, property taxes, Rahm Emanuel, real estate, real estate transfer tax, tax hikes, tax increase, TIF: Tax Increment Financing, Uber

Village of Rosemont spent more than $64 million on entertainment in 3-year span

By Joe Kaiser

10/25/2018

Despite its residents dealing with a high county and state tax burden, the village of Rosemont has spent millions on frivolous entertainment costs in recent years. Taxpayers shelled out $65,000 for pizza joint.

TAGS: budget, Rosemont, spending, taxes, TIF: Tax Increment Financing, waste

Report: TIFs fall short of economic development promises

By Joe Barnas

09/19/2018

A new report analyzes the effects of “tax increment financing” on communities across the nation – and calls into question the merits of the widely used development tool.

TAGS: Chicago, John F. Curran, property taxes, Rahm Emanuel, taxes, TIF: Tax Increment Financing, William Davis

Chicago-based MillerCoors shedding 350 jobs, despite $5.7M TIF subsidy

By Vincent Caruso

09/06/2018

MillerCoors opened its Chicago headquarters in 2010. Eight years and nearly $6 million in subsidies later, the beer giant has been hammered by a heavy round of layoffs.

TAGS: Chicago, jobs, property taxes, taxes, TIF: Tax Increment Financing, unemployment

Nearly a third of property tax revenue in Chicago is diverted into 143 TIF districts

By Chris Lentino

07/26/2018

Nearly a third of property tax revenue in Chicago is diverted into 143 TIF districts controlled by the mayor, nearly half of which are located in affluent neighborhoods.

TAGS: Chicago, Chicago City Council, Cook County, John F. Curran, property taxes, Rahm Emanuel, TIF: Tax Increment Financing, William Davis

TIFs: A mythical pot of gold for local governments

By Vincent Caruso

03/15/2018

Tax increment financing creates elusive troves of property tax “gold” – by depleting funds from local governments the mechanism intends to serve.

TAGS: property taxes, TIF: Tax Increment Financing

Collinsville, Granite City sales taxes would rival Chicago’s under tax hike referendum

By Austin Berg

03/09/2018

Madison County voters have twice turned down a proposed sales-tax hike to fund school facilities projects, but the proposal will appear again on March primary ballots. If approved, shoppers in Collinsville and Granite City would see some of the highest sales tax rates in the country.

TAGS: Metro East, property taxes, sales tax, taxes, TIF: Tax Increment Financing

Wheeling approves $7M handout to developer

By Joe Kaiser

03/09/2018

Despite residents seeing some of the highest property tax bills in the state, the Wheeling Board of Trustees approved a preliminary agreement giving a developer nearly $7 million to build apartments and retail space in the village.

TAGS: property taxes, TIF: Tax Increment Financing, Wheeling

House bill would require referendum before local tax hikes

By Vincent Caruso

02/03/2018

A new bill introduced in the General Assembly would prohibit local lawmakers from passing tax hikes without voters' permission.

TAGS: ballot referendums, taxes, TIF: Tax Increment Financing

Chicago City Council approves $5.5 million TIF subsidy for private health provider

By Vincent Caruso

01/19/2018

Under the guise of rehabilitating underserved communities, Chicago City Council approved another tax transfer to a private company.

TAGS: Chicago, CPS: Chicago Public Schools, property taxes, TIF: Tax Increment Financing

Illinois Forward: A 5-year plan for balanced budgets, declining debt and tax relief

The years 2010 through 2019 will go down in Illinois history as a decade of public policy failure and economic decline. High fixed costs for pensions and government worker health care have prevented the state from balancing its budget in any year since 2001. Since the Great Recession in 2008, the state’s fiscal imbalance has...

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Illinois Forward: A 5-year plan for balanced budgets, declining debt and tax relief

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Ifeoma Nkemdi

Policy lessons from Illinois’ exodus of people and money

CBS Chicago: Illinois’ highest-paid superintendent receives $400K per year to oversee 1,200 students