Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability

A Little-Known Legal Loophole Has Scrambled State Efforts to Save Transit Agencies From Financial Disaster

Suburban counties last year spent $83M in RTA sales taxes on jails and courts, and they are not giving that money up as the state scrapes for cash.

by Alex Nitkin and Grace Hauck October 28, 2025November 11, 2025

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A Little-Known Legal Loophole Has Scrambled State Efforts to Save Transit Agencies From Financial Disaster

by Alex Nitkin and Grace Hauck, Illinois Answers Project
October 28, 2025

<h1>A Little-Known Legal Loophole Has Scrambled State Efforts to Save Transit Agencies From Financial Disaster</h1>
<p class="byline">by Alex Nitkin and Grace Hauck, Illinois Answers Project <br />October 28, 2025</p>
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Kirk Dillard, center, chairman of the RTA Board, addresses a meeting of an RTA committee held earlier this month. (Victor Hilitski/For Illinois Answers Project)

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Tagged: Transit funding

Alex NitkinGovernment Finance and Accountability Reporter

anitkin@illinoisanswers.org

Alex Nitkin is a government finance and accountability reporter conducting investigations on systemic problems and the public policies that are meant to fix them in Chicago, Cook County and Illinois government. Before joining Illinois Answers, he worked as a reporter and editor for The Daily Line covering Cook County and Chicago government. He previously worked at The Real Deal Chicago, where he covered local real estate news, and DNAinfo Chicago, where he worked as a breaking news reporter and then as a neighborhood reporter covering the city's Northwest Side. A New York native who grew up in Connecticut, Alex graduated Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism with a bachelor’s degree.

More by Alex Nitkin

Grace HauckState Investigative Reporter

ghauck@bettergov.org

Grace Hauck is an investigative reporter with Illinois Answers Project’s State Investigations Team. Before joining Illinois Answers, she worked for USA TODAY in Chicago in various roles, including breaking news, enterprise and criminal justice reporting. She grew up in New Jersey and is a graduate of the University of Chicago.

More by Grace Hauck