The mayor campaigned on reining in tax-increment financing and has in some instances but is continuing the controversial practice in some affluent areas that critics say don’t need them.
Investigations
Posted inInvestigations
Life and Death in Chicago’s Most Dangerous Bike Lane
In Chicago’s busiest bike lane along Milwaukee Avenue, there have been 50 reported crashes and three deaths since 2020 as cyclists navigate the city’s patchwork approach to safety.
Posted inEquity & Economic Opportunity
North-Suburban Tax Assessments Point To Trouble for Homeowners, Potential Relief for Businesses
Assessor Fritz Kaegi says a new round of tax assessments shows his policies are working. But the picture for north-suburban homeowners is more complicated.
Posted inInvestigations
Program to Help Formerly Incarcerated Chicago Residents in Jeopardy after FTX Implosion
The future of a pilot program aimed at helping formerly incarcerated Chicago residents hangs in the balance after the company that was supposed to pay for it, cryptocurrency giant FTX, […]
Posted inInvestigations
Tax sale process hits Black homeowners hardest
The property tax sale process that can result in people losing their homes robs those communities of generational wealth, critics say. And Cook County’s last-chance fund to help make some of those homeowners whole is years behind in paying claims.
Posted inInvestigations
How much COVID relief money has your school district spent? Search our map
A Chalkbeat Chicago and Illinois Answers Project investigation revealed that despite student needs, high poverty districts have spent smaller portions of their ESSER funds in comparison to low poverty districts.
Posted inSolutions
With end of Roe, can abortion opponents in other states sue or prosecute Illinois residents?
Law professors say it’s possible. Other states have moved to protect abortion providers and patients, but Illinois lawmakers have yet to take it up.
Posted inSolutions
With end of Roe, can abortion opponents in other states sue or prosecute Illinois residents?
Law professors say it’s possible. Other states have moved to protect abortion providers and patients, but Illinois lawmakers have yet to take it up.
Posted inInvestigations
Insurance Giant Failed Foster Kids with Inadequate Care
A nearly $370 million contract promised to improve healthcare for state wards — but for two years the Centene Corp. fell short on basic care, forcing foster parents to scramble.
Posted inSolutions
Is It Working? Cook County’s Domestic Violence Court Strains to Improve and Expand a Year After a Reckoning
As officials work to overhaul an overloaded and flawed court system, advocates and survivors say the finish line is a long way off.