In the wake of questions from the BGA, the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund initiates an investigation into why a part-time contract lawyer for Calumet City’s municipal government stands to collect a six-figure taxpayer-subsidized pension someday.
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Posted inFollow-Up, Legal, Results & Reforms
BGA PROBE PROMPTS PAYBACK FROM POL
Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas and her husband refund more than $5,000 after the BGA disclosed they secured three property tax breaks during the 1990s when only one was allowed.
Posted inAnalysis, Perspective, Policy
Parking Meter Audit a Slick PR Move
By ordering an outside audit of the city’s deal with Chicago Parking Meters LLC, Mayor Emanuel looks tough by sending a signal to the parking meter company that City Hall is minding the store and guarding the cash register.
Posted inFollow-Up, Investigation
Shouldn’t She Know Better?
Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas’ office processes property tax payments, but back in the 1990s, while she was a county commissioner, she was pocketing three tax breaks for her personal property when only one was allowed.
Posted inFollow-Up, Legal, Results & Reforms
DUPAGE BOARD MEMBERS SHAMED INTO SHOWING UP MORE
Following a 2011 BGA analysis that found DuPage County Board members were missing numerous public meetings — but still collecting paychecks — their 2012 attendance improves, with officials citing the BGA’s findings as a big reason.
Posted inFollow-Up, Investigation
Spotty Attendance Continues To Dog DuPage Board
Analysis shows some County Board members still miss far too many public meetings — especially for a part-time job that pays $50,000 a year and carries a taxpayer-subsidized pension. Have some of these officials “checked out?”
Posted inAnalysis, Perspective, Policy
Gaming Board Improves State’s Video Poker Play
Thanks to a deck that has been reshuffled and re-cut, the odds are even that legalized video gambling in Illinois can be fun for some players, profitable for some governments and, we hope, ruinous for fewer gaming addicts.
Posted inFollow-Up, Investigation, Newsroom
School Districts, Residents Bear Some Responsibility for Lyons Township Troubles
School Districts, Residents Bear Some Responsibility for Lyons Township Troubles
Posted inFollow-Up, Investigation
DuPage is Appealing Place for Political Figure
While DuPage County Board chairman, Robert Schillerstrom appointed members of tax-appeals panel. Now a lawyer in private practice, he’s asking those same people to cut his clients’ property taxes. And they’re listening.
Posted inAnalysis, Perspective, Policy
Mayor Emanuel Should Push for New Ethics Ordinance Now
Mayor Emanuel empowered an ethics task force and dumped an ineffectual ethics board. Now it’s time to get the task-force recommendations through the City Council.