Matt Paprocki, of the Illinois Policy Institute: “The No. 1 reason for growing property taxes is rising pension payments that eat up state and local resources. As the debt and payments rise, so too do property taxes to fund them — with less money available for services.”
Violent crime on the CTA also went down by 21% compared to last July, officials said.
In December 2021, Governor JB Pritzker signed a bill allowing betting on in-state college teams. But it could only be done in-person at the state’s land-based sportsbooks. Josh Whitman, athletic director at the University of Illinois, said that although he had no data to back it up, this harassment of Illinois college athletes has increased over the past two years.
“Illinois now suffers the fourth-highest in-state tuition and fees in the nation, driven largely by the state’s growing public employee pension debt. At stake is not just the future of our students but the long-term health of Illinois’ workforce and economic growth.”
“Despite what some may think, Illinois politicians take oaths that bind us to act transparently, honestly, and with integrity. However, when examining the timeline of how this major change was brought to the people of Illinois, its clear lawmakers supporting the SAFE-T Act neglected their duty and manipulated our legislative process.”
A different take on Obama’s days in Illinois.
One of three bills signed by the governor establishes the Human Remains Protection Act. Another requires Illinois schools to add Native American history to their curriculums starting in the 2024 school year.
Another key provision in the bill will help agencies that are still working to build transit-use to pre-pandemic levels. The 50% farebox recovery ratio, which requires transit to be covered at a rate of 50% or higher by fares and other charges, will be pushed back to at least 2025, according to officials.
The State of Illinois capital plan does not include a comprehensive statewide capital improvement plan (CIP). A CIP would typically establish priorities to balance capital needs with available resources, air capital projects with funding sources, ensure orderly repair and maintenance of capital assets and provide an estimate of the size and timing of future debt issuance. Rather, it includes a list of projects.
“The city’s ham-handed, top-down approach should serve as a warning to all Chicagoans. With the shutdown of the vibrant Broadway Armory Park — on the heels of the closures of the Gage Park and Piotrowski Park field houses — the city’s migrant housing policy has entered a new stage, pitting the need for temporary shelter for asylum-seekers against the need for Chicago Park District facilities serving the city’s most vulnerable…(C)ity officials were unwilling to say just how long the ‘temporary’ shelter might be in place. But the prospect of years seems possible.”
Annual pay growth in Illinois was 6.4% over the last year, according to the report from private payroll firm ADP; this is above the national median of 6.2%. Additionally, according to the non-profit Tax Foundation’s 2023 State Business Tax Climate report, Illinois ranked 36th overall and 38th for its corporate tax policies. The state’s individual income tax ranked 13th, while its property tax ranked 44th across the nation.
“The timeline is now,” said Beatriz Ponce de León, Chicago’s deputy mayor of immigrant, migrant and refugee rights. “We’ve vetted over 200 locations for possible shelters, again, focusing first on our city-owned properties but also looking to potentially lease or purchase properties.”
The Saturday morning break-in at Bottega Veneta, 800 North Michigan, occurred just a few hours after an armed man broke into the nearby DIOR store after closing time on Friday and stole merchandise while threatening the staff with a gun.
The state budgeted $550 million to subsidize the health care of migrants over the age of 65; there are no federal matching funds for that program. The state continues to increase K-12 funding by $350 million in general revenue funds each year, and pensions cost the state one of every five tax dollars the state takes in.
Only seven of the 15 metro areas in the state have surpassed their January 2020 job levels. The state’s slow recovery of jobs conflicts with the narratives state leaders have been pushing about Illinois’ economic progress.
In Illinois, districts have spent about 82% of the second relief package and almost 40% of the third one. Dolton officials say their purchase of multiple touch screens, motion-tracking cameras, and microphones – part of an uncommon plan to embrace hybrid learning – will boost attendance by allowing students who are sick or traveling to virtually join classmates, and will help with teacher shortages by letting an educator or a substitute teach two or more classrooms at a time.
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