An obscure financing tool is quietly raising property taxes to pay for a growing range of spending, an Illinois Answers Project and Mansueto Institute analysis found.
Government Finance & Accountability
Posted inInvestigations
Lights, Camera, Tax Credits
llinois lawmakers give big boost to movie industry while academics claim the Hollywood giveaway is a bad deal for taxpayers
Posted inFollow-Up
Illinois Regulators Propose Expansion to Self-Exclusion Program for Compulsive Gamblers
The changes could open new ways to self-ban through mail, online or through provider referrals.
Posted inInvestigations
Chicago Officials Raised Concerns About South Chicago Chapel Nearly a Year Before Discovery of 56 Decomposing Bodies, Records Show
A City Council member’s office complained to city officials twice in one week that residents were griping about odors from the business.
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
Data Centers Near O’Hare Win Nearly $100M in Local Tax Breaks, Leaving Suburban Homeowners to Cover the Gap
Northwest suburban data centers had nearly $2 billion knocked off their taxable property values, an Illinois Answers Project/Chicago Tribune analysis shows.
Posted inInvestigations
Firms Linked to 2 Men Convicted of Public Corruption Have Gotten Campaign Business from JB Pritzker and the CTU
The firms tied to former Ald. Isaac “Ike” Carothers and former Blagojevich administration official Bamani Obadele have gotten campaign business from Gov. JB Pritzker and in the hotly contested race for Chicago School Board president.
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
Addicted to Gambling in Illinois: ‘Someone Has Decided They Can Make Money Off You’
People in Illinois lost more than $7.7 billion gambling last year. As lawmakers increasingly bet on gambling to pay the state’s bills, they have only spare change to treat compulsive gamblers
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
What Compulsive Gamblers Know
The hopes, dreams and tragedies of people who can’t stop betting
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
A Growing Community of Recovering Gamblers Lifts Each Other Up as Formal Resources Lag
How a podcast and 12-step network are doing the work the state can’t, and where it falls short
