Chicago residents already pay one of the highest property tax rates in the country, with the Windy City ranking the 13th highest in the nation and Illinois second among US states. And many residents don’t directly see the benefit of their payments, as more than 80% of property taxes went toward city employee pensions in the 2022 fiscal year, according to an analysis from the watchdog Civic Federation.
A largely unasked question is becoming glaring: Is Illinois doing all it should to use artificial intelligence to make government cost less and work better? So far, the evidence says no.