-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
Tenants’ effective rent for high end office space now average $28.30 per square foot, the highest since 2007. Still, a case of have and have-nots persists. via Downtown Chicago office rents rise, according to Savills Studley – Trend Of The Week – Crain’s Chicago Business.
http://politics.suntimes.com/article/chicago/hold-hold-hold-big-salaries-bonuses-some-navy-pier-top-staff/sun-06222014-359pm
Comment: Intended in part to counter companies moving offshore for tax reasons, it’s a foolish idea recirculated every few years. The credits would end up going mostly to companies that would hire anyway, and it would pile more complexity on complexity. http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/06/23/durbin-calls-for-tax-credit-for-companies-that-employ-americans/
http://politics.suntimes.com/article/chicago/ig-says-chicago-wasting-millions-garbage-collection-freebie/mon-06232014-147pm
See our own related story on what’s accelerating this, linked here: the unfunded mandate in the 2010 pension law. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/suburbs/oak_park_river_forest_forest_park/ct-fire-privatization-north-riverside-tl-0626-20140619,0,6946907,full.story
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/06/23/chicagos-average-gas-price-the-highest-in-the-nation/
“California and Illinois hide over $100 billion of retirement debt.” http://www.statedatalab.org/chart_of_the_day/
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/06/23/the-10-biggest-revenue-generating-companies-in-illinois/
http://www.bettergov.org/a_chicago_high_school_moves_to_head_of_class/
Walkable cities aren’t just easy to navigate — they’re also richer and have higher percentages of college grads, according to a new study. Chicago ranked #5. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/20/walkable-cities_n_5507956.html?utm_hp_ref=chicago&ir=Chicago
Chicago loses its second utility headquarters in less than three years. Milwaukee’s Wisconsin Energy Corp. is buying Integrys Energy, parent of Peoples Gas. http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20140623/NEWS11/140629968/peoples-gas-parent-to-be-acquired-in-9-1-billion-deal?r=8131B4604801F5R
Quinn signed an advisory measure that will ask voters this fall if they think the state’s minimum wage should be increased to $10. http://politics.suntimes.com/article/springfield/quinn-signs-bill-putting-minimum-wage-measure-ballot/sun-06222014-529pm#bmb=1
Gentrification is good for almost any business. But for funeral homes, it can be a death knell. http://my.chicagotribune.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-80575210/
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/illinois/illinois-lottery-contractor-likely-m-short-on-profits/article_64396a2a-9d67-5dce-925f-b9804b037823.html
Thousands of children from Central America are entering the U.S. through the nation’s southern border, overburdening local facilities and resources. One possible lodging site is a former monastery in Olympia Fields. http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2014/06/hhs-considers-olympia-fields-facility-for-unaccompanied-immigrant-children-.html
By: Mark Glennon* Mostly unnoticed in a 2010 pension bill is a state mandate that towns and cities start a payment plan, in whatever-it-takes yearly amounts, to gradually improve their police and fire pensions to 90% of the funding they need. And it has teeth. Cities and towns must increase property taxes sufficiently to make the payments. If required pension contributions aren’t made, the state will automatically subtract the required contribution from the city or town share of sales and use taxes — a key piece of revenue cities and towns need. (A summary of that bill is
SIGN UP HERE FOR OUR FREE WIREPOINTS DAILY NEWSLETTER