McHenry County

Illinois corruption watch, June 2014

By Brian Costin, Anthony Trania
07/09/2014
Unfortunately for taxpayers, June was a groundbreaking month for corruption in Illinois. In June alone, there were reports of 85 corruption-related stories in the state. Some of the record-breaking highlights include the following: For the first time in 33 years, the Illinois Legislative Audit Commission exercised its subpoena powers in the issuance of a subpoena...

Chicago’s collar counties should get their welcome mats ready

04/16/2014
Expect Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s call for property tax hikes to be a boon for Chicago’s collar counties and Lake County, Ind. Cook County residents have been fleeing to neighboring counties for decades, and Emanuel’s proposed hikes – to prop up city pensions – will only increase the outflow. According to IRS data, Cook County lost...

TAGS: Chicago, property taxes

Kane County earns 100% in government transparency audit

By Brian Costin
06/26/2012
CHICAGO (June 26, 2012) – With the click of a mouse, residents in Kane County can find out when is the next county board meeting or what tax rates they pay. But in many counties across northern Illinois, this type of information is not readily available to the public. In the Illinois Policy Institute’s latest...

Rebooting transparency

12/23/2011
by Mark Cavers This article, along with other original stories, first appeared in the Institute’s quarterly magazine, the Compass. The Illinois Policy Institute released a report in November exposing how the state was removing salary information from its designated transparency website. We are happy to announce that the state has returned the information to the portal. The state...