Get the latest news from around Illinois.
The Center Square: Chicago’s mayor proposes massive tax increase on spirits
Illinoisans are well aware that enjoying a cocktail in Chicago is usually a pricey venture, but if the mayor has his way, it could get worse.
In addition to walking back on a campaign promise not to raise property taxes, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is also proposing a sizable tax hike on alcohol.
The Chicago Tribune: Aldermen rip Mayor Brandon Johnson’s 2025 property tax hike proposal as budget hearings kick off
Desperate to avoid hitting Chicago home and business owners with a $300 million property tax increase, aldermen pelted the mayor’s finance team Wednesday with questions about alternatives to plug the 2025 budget hole.
Their pitches on the opening day of budget hearings ran the gamut from furlough days for city workers to cutting middle managers or halting programs funded with federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars.
Chicago Sun-Times: Secret recordings give Madigan jurors inside look at patronage, payments, danger of putting pen to paper
Federal jurors Wednesday heard Michael J. Madigan’s allies talking on secret FBI recordings about an “old-fashioned patronage system,” the need to keep Madigan “happy” in Springfield and how it’s unwise to “put anything in writing” because “all that can do is hurt ya.”
All told, prosecutors spent their day playing more than a dozen recordings in the corruption trial of Madigan, Illinois’ former longtime House speaker. Former ComEd executive Fidel Marquez, who wore a wire for the FBI in 2019, continued to occupy the witness stand.
The Daily Herald: How to spend $304.5 million?: Lake County forest preserves, Mundelein High School preparing for big to-do lists
Securing voter approval Tuesday for tax hikes to fund a host of improvements for Lake County forest preserves and Mundelein High School was the hard part. Now the logistics of using a combined $304.5 million are underway.
Forest preserve officials were confident going in but pleasantly surprised at the unofficial total showing two-thirds of voters were in favor of what the district had in mind for the $155 million being sought.
WCIA: Four Central IL school referendums fail to pass in election
Four different school referendums were voted on in Central Illinois this cycle, and none of them passed. The economy is a hot button issue every election, and this one has been no different.
ABC’s Exit Polls show 31% of voters said the economy was their most important issue. When looking at the results of referendums across the area, they speak for themselves.